Useless Heroes
by that.girl.we.all.luv
Summary: Out of all three children I'm the disappointment. Sure Zuko is a banished prince and Azula is well...Azula, but somehow I still suck. Father respects power, so apparently my worth is nonexistent. But hey, I let the Avatar go. Knowing that could potentially stress you out brings a smile to my face.
1. Books and Turtle-Ducks

**...READ...IT?**

So I'm pretty sure I've disappointed my father. Oh, I didn't do anything, technically I had no part in the problem. It was actually his doing if you want to get to the nitty gritty about it. Of course, no one wants to listen to technicality. They only want to see what's in front of them. They don't want it to be their own fault, so I take all of the blame.

You see the problem is I am not a fire bender. Actually, I'm not any type of bender. I'm just me, regular old non-bending me.

Now, to most people this wouldn't be a problem. "Why does that matter?", they say. "Plenty of people get by without being a bender.", they say. Well according to the greatness that is the Fire Nation, everyone that is not a fire bender is beneath them. It's even worse if you can't bend at all. Especially if you're apart of the royal Fire Nation family. Yes, me, that's who I am and to be honest, I'm not really proud of it. Why, you ask? I don't want to be a horrible person, but my first reason is not because our people have ended so many innocent lives.

It's because that in the eyes of my father I am viewed as worthless and weak.

No, he hasn't said that _yet._ However, I'm sure he will soon. I haven't found any sort of talent that he would approve of yet and I don't think I ever will. Father wants strong children that can represent his nation and I am not one of them.

"Ow!" I winced as I was kicked over onto the floor.

"Sozai, in case you don't realize, this isn't a place to read. We train here and you're in the way." I frowned up to see my twin sister Azula. She held a hand on her hip with a bored expression.

"No one was using it yet, and it was quiet." I mumbled, turning over to pick up my glasses.

"Well, you need to move, father is going to present us to grandfather tonight. Oh, sorry, not us, just me and Zuzu." She said.

I frowned at her. "You don't have to say it like that, I know I can't fire bend. There's no need to rub it in all the time."

"I'm just stating a fact, you can't bend." She said with a smile. I wanted to hit her smug face so badly. However, I knew it would solve nothing. She would try to burn me and enjoy it. I pursed my lips before collecting my books and standing up. I didn't having anything else to say to her and to be honest I didn't want to. Azula would just turn it around into some sort of edge against me. I turned on my heel and left the room without looking back at her.

I sighed. Azula always makes me feel like crap. "Sozai, what's wrong?" I looked up to see Zuko looking at me with a raised brow.

I shrugged. "Nothing really, are you going to train?" I asked, glancing back down the hall.

He gave a hesitant nod. "Grandfather is going to watch our progress tonight; I don't want to disappoint him or father."

"Oh, I see. Well I don't know if you want to go now..." I said.

"Why...Azula is in there?" He stated more than asked. I nodded. "Oh."

"Do you want to come with me?" I asked. "I was going feed the turtle ducks by the pond."

"You do that?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah, haven't you?" I asked with a smile. He shook his head with a frown.

"Those stupid ducks are ungrateful." Zuko said with a huff.

I laughed. "So you have then? What happened, did they bite you?"

He blushed and I laughed even more. My brother was so amusing sometimes. "It's not funny, they actually attacked me!"

"Maybe you're just doing it wrong. I've read about them, you know. Any sign of aggression and they tend to get kind of feisty." I said with a smile.

"But I wasn't aggressive! I just wanted to feed the stupid things." He said.

"See there you go calling them stupid, I'm sure you wouldn't like it if I called you that." I said. He huffed out.

"Fine." He mumbled.

"Come on." I said, taking his hand leading him outside to the turtle duck pond. When we got outside, the ducks were swimming in the water. I went to walk closer, but Zuko stayed put next to the tree. "Oh come on Zuko, their not going to hurt you." I said, squatting next to the water, before sitting down completely. I went into my clothing and took out a cloth covered piece of bread; I had been saving it since breakfast. I tore off a piece and held it out for the duck. Some of them started to come out of the water and walk over to me.

"Here you go, it's good bread...good bread." I whispered as they took it from my hand. I smiled as they ate it. "Zuko, come out here, I told you it's fine." He slowly walked over and sat behind me. "Are you really afraid of baby wittle turtle ducks, Zuzu?"

"Don't call me that, and I'm not scared, Sozai." He said, snatching the bread from me and pushing it at the ducks. They scattered away. "Take it you dumb duck!" The bigger one in which I'm guessing is the mother bit Zuko's hand.

"OW!" He cried. "I told you they would bite me!" He held his hand in pain. I sighed, grabbing onto his hand.

"It's only because you were aggressive, Zuko. You can't be angry with animals or nature. It will only lash out at you." I said. His eyes were watered and he looked like he was fighting the urge to cry in front of his younger sister. "You have to be calm and accept them as your equal, no matter how small."

"It bit me." He mumbled again.

"And do you want to know why?" I asked. He hesitantly nodded. "It's because the one you were shoving the bread at was a baby. The one who bit you was it's mother."

"It was it's mother?" He repeated.

I nodded. "Look at them, closely. The mother thought you were threatening it's child, so it retaliated."

"Oh..." He said furrowing his brow.

"Do you want to try again?" He looked at me as if I had grown another head. "Come on, I know you can do it."

"Okay." He said tearing off a piece of bread, slowly inching toward the mother duck. She stared at it for a moment before taking the bread into her mouth. He smiled brightly at me. "I did it! Did you see that? I did it!"

I gave a teasing smile. "Your first step at becoming one with nature, big brother."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh be quiet...how did you know all that stuff?"

"That's what I'd like to know." We both turned around to see our mother standing behind them with a smile.

"Oh, just books mom." I said with a shy smile.

"Hi, mother." Zuko said with a bright grin. "Sozai and I were feeding the ducks."

"I can see that." She said, taking a step forward. "She right you know, a mother would do anything to protect her children."

"Even you?" He asked.

"Even me." She said with a smile. "Zuko you'd better get prepared for tonight."

"Oh, right." He said with a nervous smile. "I'm going to do my best mother, I promise."

"I know you will, you already do, so there's nothing for you to worry about." She said.

"Bye Mother, see you later Sozai." He said running off. I waved to him before dropping my hand with a sigh.

"What books have you been reading lately?" My mother suddenly said. I looked up at her and held up the one in my hand.

"I got this from Uncle Iroh it's from Ba Sing Se. It's about patience and wisdom, but it explains it in a way that isn't boring. Oh and I have another one about the spirit world, do you know there's a creature that can take your face!"

"Really?" She said with an amused smile.

"And not only that! But there were GIGANTIC turtles that gave people bending. Did you also know that everyone wasn't born with it, it was given to them as protection for when they left there village..."

My mother looked down at me when I stopped talking. "What's wrong, Sozai?"

"Mom...why wasn't I born a fire bender?" I asked. "I mean Firelord Azulon, father, Zuko, Azula and you all have it, but I don't. Why is that?"

"Sometimes...that happens." She said. "Not everyone is born a bender."

"But I'm apart of the royal family, we're suppose to have bending. If I don't then that means I'm nothing-" Suddenly, mom placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't you ever say that about yourself. Your are my daughter and that means you're important to me. I love you, Sozai."

"Father doesn't, he thinks I'm an embarrassment to the family." I said, staring down at my feet. It took a moment before mom said anything. I knew it was true.

"Sozai, I don't want you to put yourself down. I want you to use your skills to your advantage."

"What skills?" I asked, looking up at her curiously.

She tapped a finger to my forehead. "Yes, it's true you're not a firebender, but you have some thing a lot of benders don't. You're very smart." I scrunched up my face. "Don't give me that face, a lot of benders have because they acted on there ability rather than their brain. Have they not?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, there has been several battles lately and I think we've been acting rashly. We're not thinking about the soldiers as soldiers, but barriers rather."

Mother started to laugh. "You see, your smart. You think when others don't. I'm proud of you for that."

I slowly smiled up at her before giving her a warm hug. "Thank you, mom. I love you too."

"Alright Sozai. You need to go eat before we watch your brother and sister."

I frowned, but said nothing. "Yes, mom." I turned away and walked back inside. I couldn't place what it was, but something was bothering me. I felt worry in the pit of my stomach. I shook my head, everything would be fine.

* * *

I shifted uncomfortably as I sat with my legs underneath me. They were losing there feeling and it was starting to hurt. It hadn't been that long. We were in the Firelord's throne room, Azula and Zuko were sitting in the middle waiting to be called on. I sat next to mother, making sure not to be so close to father.

Zuko went first and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't nearly as impressive as it could have been. According to my fathers expression, of course. I thought he did great, from a non-benders perspective. Mother and I smiled with a supportive expression. He sat back down and Azula stood up throwing around her blue fire. From the look on father's face she was doing a wonderful job. Which she was, but Azula made it so you couldn't be happy for her. She was cocky and the way she bended was perfection, but it looked as if she wanted to hurt someone with it.

The thought made me scared of her. More than I already was.

Azula sat back down and Zuko looked uncomfortable. He took a deep breath and stood to his feet again. This made father frown. "I-I would like to try again."

Before anyone could protest Zuko attempted to mimic Azula's complicated movements. He ended falling on his butt. I winced for him and I knew that he was embarrassed. Father looked disappointed and bothered that Zuko would even stand up again.

"We're done here." The Firelord said. "Everyone out except for you, Ozai." We all awkwardly stood to our feet and were edging toward the door. Zuko held his head in frustration.

"I shamed father, I ruined everything!" He said to himself.

"No, you didn't." I said, lightly patting his shoulder. "You were just trying your best, that's all you can do."

He frowned at me. "What do you know, your not even a bender." Ouch. He yanked his arm away and trudged down the hall way.

"He didn't mean it." Mother said.

"Yeah..." I turned on my heel and went to walk down the hall, but I spotted Azula on the wall. "Azula, what are you-"

"SHH!" She said harshly.

"What?" I whispered carefully walking over to her.

I glanced over to see that my father and the Firelord were talking. "How dare you, how dare you even suggest such a thing. Relinquish Iroh's right from the throne? He lost his son, he is in grieving. But of course you couldn't understand...no...your son, you will end his so you can understand the pain Iroh is feeling."

My eyes widened. I wanted to yell, scream, do something. Anything! Father was going to kill Zuko, I knew he would. He didn't love any of us. All he wanted was to become the Firelord. I had to stop him. I had to. I pulled away from the hiding spot and ran down the hallway as fast as I could. I need to hide Zuko, I was thinking like a child, but what else could I do? I ran as fast as my legs would take me through the halls with fear welling at the surface of my stomach.

I burst into Zuko's room which seems to catch him off guard. He glared. "What are you doing in here?" His expression changed when he saw my face. "Why are you cryingi? Did Azula hurt you again?"

I shook my head walking over to him. "We need to go, we need to go now!"

"What are you talking about, you're freaking me out." He said, snatching his arm away.

"Something bad is gonna happen if we don't get you out of here. Please, please, please. I don't want you to die." I said.

His eyes widened. "D-Die? What are you talking about?" I wasn't sure if should say anymore. I pursed my lips before taking his arms again. Apparently me saying this caught him off guard, so he allowed me to pull him along. I rubbed my head in frustration. Where could I hide him? Think, think, think. My room would be the first place they would look. It's to obvious, so in a way it was genius and stupid at the same time. Father wouldn't kill both of us, it would look to suspicious to the public. I nodded.

"Come on, let's go." I dragged him into my room, putting a chair in front of the door. It wouldn't stop him, but it could slow him down if we had to get away. "Do you have that knife uncle gave you?" He nodded. "Good." I sat down in the bed and patted the seat next to me. He hesitantly sat down beside me.

"Sozai, what's wrong? Why did you say that earlier? What's going on?" He looked like he was very scared.

I took a deep breath. "Just...just, just stay in here tonight okay? Please?"

"Okay..." He laid back against the pillow with his back facing me. I held my hands over my eyes. What was I doing? What if we both died anyway? Would father really kill Zuko?

Without a doubt.

That's why I had to do something to help him. If it was only this so be it.

* * *

"Sozai...Sozai..." I jumped, grabbing Zuko's knife. I blinked in surprise when I saw it was mother. I slowly dropped the knife.

"Mom, what are you doing here? What's going on?" Zuko grumbled in his sleep and I slowly shook him awake.

"Mother?"

"I'm sorry you two, I don't have much time. Soon they'll know what I've done." I furrowed my brow, what did she mean? Did she kill father? Why was I so hopeful for this? "I love you both so much." She hugged us to her and I felt like she was telling me goodbye.

"We love you too mom." He said sleepily. My lip trembled, couldn't he be more awake for this?

"Mom..." She knew that I knew.

"Take care of your brother and sister, Sozai." She whispered in my ear. I gulped before nodding. "Goodbye."

I couldn't even voice the words. She was never coming back and whatever she did was bad. I looked over at Zuko who slowly went back to sleep. My eyes watered up. This was all so messed up.

I didn't sleep the rest of the night and I didn't leave the room either, I was too scared to do anything.

The next morning the news was sent out that that Firelord Azulon was dead. Mother had killed him and father was now the Firelord. She was gone and she was never coming back. Somehow I wasn't relieved that father wasn't the one that died.


	2. Deep Family Hatred

**Thank you CrazyAwesomeZebra and The Queen of Song for reviewing this. It made me happy. ^_^ ALSO, a thanks to the follows and favorites! I absolutely love see those. **

"Hey Sozai." I resisted the urge to sigh as I looked up from my book.

Ty Lee was in my personal space, grinning as usual. Her, Mai and my sister were all in the middle of a cartwheeling competition. She was doing the best, of course. Ty Lee always had a talent for acrobatics, but her overly cheerful and touchy attitude was kind of annoying. She was nice, but I was so use to my unloving family, it was different and uncomfortable.

I set my book down, looking up at her. "Do you need something?" I asked politely.

"I just wanted to see if you'd like to join in?" She asked with a smile.

"Uh...I don't-"

"Sozai likes to keep her head in the books." Azula interrupted with a smirk. "She's not one for athletics, I honestly don't think she could even do _half_ of a cartwheel."

I glared at her and resisted the urge to growl. "Azula." I warned. She shrugged off my look.

"Oh come on Sozai, it's easy, just look." Ty Lee took a step back before getting a run start. She sprung off her hands and did a somersault through the air. Landing on her feet, she held out her arms.

I raised my brow as I clapped. "Wow, that was amazing, but I don't even think _Azula_ can do that." Mai hid her smirk behind her sleeve.

Azula looked at me with a challenged expression. "Oh really?"

I gave a casual shrug. "If you can, by all means, prove me wrong."

She huffed with a cocky smile. "Alright, I will." She went to imitate Ty Lee's moves, but fell on her face half way through. I bit back my laugh as she stood up with an angry and slightly humiliated expression. For a moment she wasn't sure what to do, before she looked at Ty Lee and pushed her on the ground.

"Azula!" She cried. Said girl started to laugh at her expense.

I rolled my eyes at her childish action. Azula turned to me with crossed arms. "Well, if I can't do it, without a doubt you would certainly fail."

I lifted my glasses. "Oh, I knew I couldn't and wouldn't dare try. I just wanted to see the great power of Princess Azula, I was disappointed. Better luck next time." I smiled at her. This seemed to make her angry, fear welled up inside me when I saw her hand light up with a slight fire.

I was relieved when I saw uncle Iroh and Zuko walking by. Ever since uncle had come back from the war, Zuko had been accompanying him. I believed that was best for him, father wasn't the best role model to have around. Also, since mother was...gone there wasn't a proper adult figure in his life. If Zuko was going to be the Fire Lord someday, I didn't want him to end up like our father.

Though, I kept this all to myself.

"Uncle!" I called hastily. Azula put out the fire and turned to them.

He gave me a kind smile. "Well hello Sozai, how are you on this fine afternoon?" He seemed to notice the tense atmosphere.

"I'm alright...could be better." I said, glancing back at Azula. "But I think I'm alright for now."

"Zuzu, why don't you come play with us?" Azula said with an innocent expression.

"Don't call me that! Plus, there's no way I would play with you!" He said with narrowed eyes. "I have better things to do."

"Uncle, don't you think it would be a good idea, I mean even Sozai is playing." She said. I gulped, right, _playing_. I wanted to say something, but I was too afraid to voice my fears. At least while the culprit was around. "After all, when mom was around...she did say for us to be nice to each other."

Zuko pursed his lips. Great, now she was playing the guilt card. "Fine, I'll play your stupid game."

Uncle gave a nod to him before going on his way. I wanted to scream 'come back', but he had already gone around the corner. "Alright, so what are we gonna do?" He asked crossing his arms.

I noticed Mai looking at him with a shy smile. She obviously had a crush on him, but somehow Zuko didn't see it. Though, people did say boys mature at a slower rate than girls. I didn't have a problem with Mai, I actually kind of liked her. She wasn't mean to me, as a matter of fact, she didn't really say much of anything at all. I was completely fine with that.

"Mai, you stand over there." Azula ordered, looking at Ty Lee with a devious smirk. She replied with a smile. I narrowed my eyes, they were up to something. Azula walked up to her and put an apple on her head. "It's an easy game, really. All you have to do is knock the fruit off her head."

Suddenly, Azula shot fire at Mai's hair and my eyes went wide. Before I could act, Zuko was already running after her and tackled the girl into the pond. Azula laughed cruelly.

"It actually worked." Ty Lee said. I glared at the perky girl.

"I told you it would." My sister replied. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from yelling. Azula was so mean.

"Ugh!" Zuko said as he and Mai both looked embarrassed. I walked over to the water and put out my hand for Mai, she took it with a small smile. Zuko stood up with an angry expression. He grumbled incomprehensible words. He looked too embarrassed to do anything else.

"Come on, Zuko. Let's go." I said, frowning at my twin sister. How we can look so much alike, but act so different is beyond me. I say she gets it from father, but I'm not allowed to verbally speak against the Fire Lord. I pushed the young fire Prince forward. "We'll get you dried off."

I walked next to him and he had a deep frown on his face. "Stop it, or your face will get stuck that way."

"Urgh, Azula makes me so mad! Why did she do that?" He grumbled.

I sighed, with a shrug. "Why does she do anything?"

"Why were you even out there anyway?" He asked. "I thought you hated hanging out with them."

"It wasn't intentional, I assure you. I was feeding the turtle-ducks and I just wanted a quiet place to read. Not even ten pages in and they were suddenly there." I said. "Mai isn't bad though."

"No...I guess not." He said slowly. I grinned at him slightly. "What?"

I took in a deep breath. "Mai and Zuko sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-"

"Shut up, Sozai!" He said with a blush. I started to giggle at his expense. "I thought you were on my side."

"Of course I am, but a little teasing isn't going to hurt you." I nudged his arm. "...But you know what will?"

"What?" He asked with uncertainty.

I held a dramatic hand to my heart and sighed. "The pain of love, my dear brother."

"Sozai!" He huffed, walking ahead of me. "I shouldn't have asked you. You're no better than Azula."

I gasped with fake surprise. "Don't insult me like that." He always compared me to her when he was mad at something _she_ did.

"Whatever." He grumbled.

I rolle my eyes. "Oh, don't go getting an attitude. I was only playing. Besides, it doesn't hurt if it's the truth!" This made him walk faster. He stopped when uncle rounded the corner.

He raised his brow. "What happened to you?"

"Girls are crazy!" Zuko answered heatedly as he walked past him. Uncle Iroh walked up to me with a questioning expression.

"Should I even ask who?"

"It was Azula, obviously." I grimaced. "Her games aren't all that fun." I thought about how she looked when I insulted her. She really would have burned me.

"How you two look so much alike and are so different, is fascinating to me." He said as he stroked his beard.

"Hey, she's a fire bending prodigy and I'm a lousy bookworm." I joked, but I meant every word of it. "Who would have thought."

"Yes, it is true that she is a very skilled fire bender." My shoulders dropped. "But I think you and I have something in common that's even better ."

I raised my brow. "Really, what is it?"

"Well, we both enjoy a nice cup of tea and a good game of Paishou." He sainto d with grin and I laughed a bit.

"That's true." I said, feeling in better spirits. Speaking of spirits. "Hey uncle, you know a lot about the spirit world and stuff, right?"

"I believe I know a bit." He with a kind smile.

"Well, I've been reading the books you gave me on the balance of the world."

"Hm." He said, as if to say continue.

"I've just been wondering about something and I have a theory." I paused. "Could the Avatar be hiding in the spirit world?"

"That's an interesting question, Sozai." He said. "However, there is a reason they call it the 'spirit world'. Your physical body can not leave, only your spiritual form."

I furrowed my brow. "Oh...well I hadn't gotten that far yet, but it was just a theory. I mean the Avatar _has_ been gone for over 100 years."

"Yes, he has and the Fire Nation has given up their search."

"I think that was best." I replied.

"Hm, really? You think so." He gave no clue that he agreed or disagreed to my answer.

"Uncle...father, I'm sure he wants the Avatar dead, but honestly, that's not what I want. I think...I think I wan't him or her to come back and save us."

"Save us?" He asked curiously. "From who?"

I furrowed my brow before pursing my lips. "...the fire-" He put a hand over my mouth. I raised my brow, but I gulped as I saw servants walking by. They would have heard me if uncle hadn't stopped me. When they were out of sight, he uncovered my mouth.

"Such things shouldn't be said by a Fire Nation Princess, at least not places they will be heard." He said with a serious look.

I nodded with firm expression. "Alright." _But I still mean it._

* * *

 _Three weeks later_

"Zuko would you quit pacing?" I said with a frown. "You're going to burn a whole in the floor, literally."

He turned to me with a glare. "I should be a part of that war meeting, I'm the Prince of the Fire Nation. Why didn't father tell me?"

"Zuko, it's not that big of a deal." I reasoned. "They only talk about who their going to kill next and how their going to do it."

He raised a brow at me. "You speak as if we're the bad ones in all of this."

 _Well..._

I shrugged. "All I'm saying is it's not really worth it. I mean, what do you even have to add to their strategy?"

He frowned. "You think I'm not capable enough?" His pride and feelings slightly hurt.

I sighed leaning forward in my chair, before laying my book down. "No Zuko, I think you're plenty capable. Yes you are a Fire Nation Prince and I'm a Princess, if you hadn't realize. They didn't invite me either."

"Well that's different." He snapped.

I narrowed my eyes. "Why is that?" I knew what he was going to say and I dared him to bring that into this.

"I'm going to be in charge one day and you're not." He said meekly. "and..."

"And what, Zuko?" I asked, standing from my seat, taking a step toward him. "You've already started, go ahead and say it."

"We wouldn't respect a non-bender like you in the war room, Princess or not." He bit out, with an angry rise in his voice.

"We? So you too then? That's what you're saying to me right now? My own brother?" I asked.

"It's never been heard of! What do you want me to say?" He yelled. Not even denying what I had assumed.

"You don't know what to say? Well I do, go be a Fire Nation tyrant like father, go barge into the meeting and demand your place like a _child_." I was so angry that I had slipped up and called father a tyrant. However, Zuko was so angry that I had called him a 'child', he stormed out of the room. "That's right, leave! Over grown baby!"

I walked back and forth in frustration. Now I saw why Zuko was doing it, though I wouldn't actually burn a whole in the floor. However, that wasn't the point! I was trying to reason with Zuko, but he didn't seem to see it that way. Why did they always throw the 'non-bender' card at me? No where else in the entire world would that matter, accept in the Fire Nation!

Now I was too angry to be in this room anymore because of the argument. I walked out and was surprised to see Azula standing there. She was leaning against the wall with a casual look, but I was smart enough to know there was a reason for everything she did. "Father is a tyrant, huh? Now what would he say if he heard you disrespecting him, hm?"

My face went pale and I gulped. "You've been here the whole time..."

"Oh, no, just for that last bit. I have to say Sozai, I didn't think you could be so...liberal? No, the word will come to me...Oh, maybe a traitor." She said with a grin.

I stepped back, fixing my glasses. "I'm not a traitor...I was just angry, I didn't mean it." _Yes I did._

"That's an interesting choice of words for someone that's only angry. Even a foolish man knows not to insult the Fire Lord. That's treason you know." Azula walked around me and I studied her carefully.

"Why are you saying this? Are you going to tell him?" I asked hoarsely. Knowing good and well that Azula was loyal to father and she disliked me, that much I was sure of.

"Hm, with any luck, I won't have to do anything. Perhaps I'll just wait." She said smiling at me cruelly.

I scowled back at her, before attempting to walk past. She held my arm. "You'd be more careful what you say, don't want to get burned, right."

I furrowed my brow. What was she-"Ow!" I yelped pulling away from her. My eyes went wide. She had actually tried to hurt me. I backed away from her and ran down the hall. She was gonna do it, Azula actually tried to hurt me. No, she already did. I looked at my arm and saw a large red mark where she had touch me

I was scared of her, but I never thought she would actually try it. I shuttered in fear.

Now walking, I cradled my arm to my chest. I decided to go back outside and sit by the pond. The turtle-ducks quacked, waiting for me to feed them. "Sorry, I don't have any food today." One of the baby ducks came over and quacked at my arm. "Oh this? I was burned..." The baby nudged toward me and I smiled. "At least you care."

I sat there for sometime with the company of the turtle-ducks, but it was peaceful for now. I closed my eyes for moment before I heard arguing on the right hand side. I furrowed my brow, before carefully standing to my feet. The commotion got louder as I came closer. I recognized one of the voices to be Zuko. I frowned at the thought of him, but then I heard uncle Iroh as well.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Your brother has caused himself a great deal of trouble." Uncle said with serious expression.

"What did you do?"

"I spoke out against one of the old generals, but he was the one who was wrong! Sacrificing all those men isn't right!" He said stubbornly.

Uncle sighed. "Yes, but the way you did it was completely out of line." He turned to me. "Your father has ordered that Zuko fight in an Agni Kai."

My eyes widened. "Zuko!" I yelled. "How could you be so stupid!"

"Stop worrying, the old general isn't all that strong. I've improved a lot and I can take him." He said confidently.

I shook my head. "That's not what I'm saying, what you did wasn't right! I knew you shouldn't have gone to that meeting, but you didn't listen."

"What I did was wrong? You, the one whose always slighting the Fire Nation and father? I'm the one whose wrong?"

"I don't do it to their faces just to start a fight!" I yelled.

"Then your a coward." He snapped. "I'm going to prove to father that I can defend what I say. That old general won't know what hit him." He walked away before I could say anything else.

I held my head in frustration. "That idiot! Doesn't he know what he's done?!"

"No, he's not thinking about the effect of his actions." Iroh grimaced.

"Well we have to do something, we can't just wait and worry." I urged.

He shook his head. "There's nothing else we can do, the damage has already been done and now Zuko must face the consequences."

I took off my glasses and held the bridge of my nose. "Everything is so messed up."

I looked up when uncle put a hand on my head. "Don't think about it too much, alright?" I hesitantly nodded, before I could leave he grabbed my arm and I winced. "You're burned."

I avoided his eyes. "Yeah..."

"How did this happen?" I didn't say anything. "Sozai." He warned, sounding a like a father, just not mine.

"It was Azula-but please don't say anything." I said with fear in my eyes. "I don't want to cause trouble."

"Sozai, if your sister is causing you pain, you need to say something." He said with a serious expression. "This isn't fun and games, fire is dangerous for both those who can and can't wield it. Has she done this before?"

I shook my head. "No, she's tried, but never touched me...not until now at least." I grimaced at my skin. "Just don't say anything, I don't want to make anything worse, please." He paused for a moment before sighing.

"If she tries anything again, you come straight to me, understand?" I nodded. "Good, now go to bed, you need to rest."

"Why? I'm not the one who has to fight tomorrow." I mumbled.

"No, you are not, but you will still need sleep." He said, before walking away, leaving me in the hall way with my thoughts. I turned and walked to my room, but I got no sleep that night.

* * *

The next morning I felt very nervous somehow. I couldn't place it, but I felt a feeling of dreadful terror in the pit of my stomach. Of course, Zuko was going to have an Agni Kai. However, there was something off about it and it scared me. I frowned at the burn on my arm. I would need to wear long sleeves for a while. Azula did it just because she could and she knew I had no defense against her. I knew father wouldn't do anything to her if I told because I'm weak. If I did, she would tell him that I called him a 'tyrant'. Only bad things would come my way if I opened my mouth.

Meaning I was cornered.

I decided that I wasn't hungry this morning and there was no point in eating. With my stomach doing flips today, there was no way I could keep it down. When I walked outside, I saw that it was a beautiful day. However, I couldn't enjoy it. I was scared. Scared for myself and Zuko.

"Oh isn't it a pretty day?" I turned to my twin sister with a deep frown. "Don't you think so, Sosi?" I glared. "Hm, don't like the nickname?"

"What do you want, Azula?" I asked with a stone like tone.

She grinned, leaning back on the rail. "Oh, I see. Are you still upset about yesterday? You decided not to tell and you chose wisely. Otherwise I might have slipped that the non-bending Princess was a traitor."

I clinched my fist. "Is this really funny to you? Our older brother is going to a have an Agni Kai with a _general_! That doesn't scare you at all?"

She shrugged. "It's his own fault, he shouldn't have talked out of line and now he has to pay the price. Don't you agree?"

I was conflicted, but I didn't want to agree with her. "I think he should have held his tongue, but that doesn't mean he should fight an Agni Kai! He's a general for spirits sake!"

She only smiled at me which was more frustrating than the problem it's self. "Do you really think that general is going to fight Zuko?"

I furrowed my brow. "What are you talking about?"

"Of course the general was _disrespected_ , but where was he at the time that it happened?"

"Father's war room, of course..." I trailed off. My eyes went wide. "He wouldn't!" She only smiled.

I ran down the hall, almost tripping over my own feet. I had to do something, but what? I slowly stopped and my eyes started to water.

I couldn't do anything.

* * *

We all met in the throne room and I stood with nervous terror in my heart. I turned to uncle and he seemed to know as well.

Father was going to fight Zuko.

I gulped when Zuko came in looking confident. He had no idea what was to come. I glanced over to father and he looked serious and terrifying. When they were told to turn and fight I saw the pure shock on his face. "Oh no..." I mumbled.

"Father, please! I meant no disrespect!" He said, dropping to his knees.

"Get up and fight me boy." He sneered.

"I-I won't, I can't." He said shaking in fear.

"Fine then you will learn to respect me." He said holding Zuko up by his hair and shoved fire in his face. My eyes widened as held a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. I whimpered behind my fingers. I watched Zuko fidget on the floor, screaming and yelling. "You are here by banish from the Fire Nation. You dishonor me with your weakness."

The Fire Lord walked out. I went to run and assisted my brother, but uncle stopped me. I furrowed my brow. "We have to help him, please."

"No...he needs to get up on his own." He muttered in my ear. I turned away and pushed past him out of the room. I took off my glasses as my eyes began to blur.

"How could he, how could he?" I said wiping my eyes. Father is a monster.

* * *

That night I went back to the door of the throne room with a nervous heave in my chest. The guards stood there looking at me with a questioning brow. I blinked a few times before licking my lips. "I request to see my father immediately, please." They said nothing. "Just let me through, as a Princess of the Fire Nation I demand that you do so." I sounded more like Azula now which seemed to intimidate them, if only a little. They moved aside and my confident demeanor slowly died inside me.

Father sat on the throne and I couldn't see him behind the fire. "Sozai...what do you want child?" He sounded cold and I held my arms straight to keep from shuttering.

"Father, I humbly request that you reconsider banishing Zuko." I bowed my head and waited for him to answer. My eyes widened when he laughed. I kept my head down to hide my grimace.

"Reconsider? Me?" He said with a cruel grin. "You have your mothers heart girl." I wanted to look at him, but didn't have the courage to do so.

"With all do respect, father, I feel as if this is unfair to him. He does love and respect you." I didn't dare add myself because I wasn't even sure if it was true.

"Really, well why doesn't he come and beg himself?" He asked casually. I wanted to shout, to scream at him for even asking such a thing.

"I believe...he is in a great amount of pain." I answered. "Besides, he does not know that I have come on his behalf."

"Oh, how diligent of you Sozai. You care for your brother, don't you?" He said with mocking sympathy.

I gulped. "Yes father, very much so."

He sighed, making me narrow my eyes. "I have a brother too you know, so it is not as if I'm not understanding. Alright Sozai, I will let Zuko stay."

I looked up at him with hope. "Oh thank you fath-"

"Not so fast girl." All hope plummeted. "I will let him stay if he finds the Avatar and brings him to me."

I almost gaped at him. "B-But father, the Avatar has been gone for practically 100 years. How would he find-"

"This is my offer girl, take it or leave it." He said.

I nodded slowly. "Yes...father. I will tell him, but I have one last request and it won't trouble you at all."

"Get on with it then."

"I ask if I may join him on this quest for the Avatar, please?" There was a pause and I wasn't sure what he would say.

"Go, you're no more useful here than out there with him." He sneered.

I hesitantly bowed. "Yes, father. Thank you." I walked out of the throne room as I started to smile. I would finally get away from him despite the horrible circumstances. Over the years I've started to realize something and at first I wanted to deny it, but the signs were all there. I despised my nation and what father did to Zuko is unforgivable.

I hated the Fire Lord.

 **So please tell me what you think.**


	3. Sneak Attacks and Spine Snapping

**Thank you _sweetsnakes , _ _MusicLover315 , Robin Renshaw, Guest, Gadget boy_ and _Kiyoky_ for reviewing. It's nice to see that people care. ^-^**

I grimaced with a shiver as I rubbed my arms to keep warm. We were in the South pole and I hadto say that I didn't do very well in the cold. I much rather enjoy a warmer climate. However, I had to admit that it was pretty and much less polluted than the Fire Nation air. I wobbled from side to side to keep myself from shuttering in the icy breeze. No one else seemed to have a problem because, of course, most of them were fire benders. If not, then it was their male pride keeping them from admitting that it was freezing.

It's been three years since my brother was banished from the Fire Nation. I had told him our fathers terms and he was determined to for fill his wishes. It was foolish and I knew this, but I didn't want to leave him alone to deal with it. Not to mention that I would have been left with Azula and I didn't want that. Plus, uncle Iroh was here as well and that made this miserable journey so much more entertaining.

"What's the matter, Sozai?" My uncle asked. "Not in the mood to read I see?" I turned around to him, breathing out heavily. I could see my own breath.

I shook my head. "It's too cold to read and I'm the only one that seems to care."

"Oh, they care. However, if they say anything, I'm afraid your brother won't let them hear the end of it." He said, walking over to the edge of the ship. I followed after him, laying my hands on the railing. It was cold to the touch.

I furrowed my brow as I spoke. "He's so much more rowdy and angry than he use to be."

Uncle didn't give any evidence that he agreed, but I knew he did. It was plain and obvious that Zuko was different now. "Your brother has been on a search for the Avatar for three years and I'm sure the pressure is getting to him."

His reasoning was justified, but the way he treated the people on his ship slowly started to change into something hostile. "That's true...but it's bothering me." I turned to him. "Perhaps you could talk to him about his behavior?"

"Me?" He said with a cricked smile and a raised brow.

I nodded. "Yeah, you have a lot of wisdom and I think Zuko needs to hear it from someone with a leveled head. Someone like you." I sneezed. "Excuse me."

He held a hand to his chin. "Hm, well let's get you inside with a warm cup of tea."

I rubbed my nose and nodded. "That would be nice." We walked inside and uncle led me to his quarters to have a seat. He gave me a cup and pored me some tea. "You're always prepared, huh?"

"Of course!" He said with a grin. "One can not start their day without tea, it's inhuman!"

I giggled at his enthusiasm. "Right." I took a sip before looking back up at him. "Uncle, I've been reading up on histories most well known Avatar's."

"Hm." He said poring himself a cup before sitting down. "You have another theory then?"

I smiled with a nod. He knew me too well. "Yes."

"Well lets here it." He said giving me his full attention. That made me feel like I was important. Nowadays whenever I would try to bring this up to Zuko he would brush me off unless it would help with the whereabouts of the Avatar.

"Hm, well, Kyoshi. She has her own island, did you know that?"

"Yes, I do. She was very power."

I nodded excitedly. "She was also very tall and independent and most of all she lived to be 230 years old!" I stood to my feet as I started to circle the room. "How is that possible, one might ask? Most people can barely live up to 100. This got me curious so I looked at the most resent Avatar...if you want to call him that. Roku, he was quite old, but what if he's still alive? After all look how long Kyoshi lived." I turned to my uncle with hands behind my back. I always got so carried away when talking.

He smiled. "That is very interesting, but...records confirmed that Roku did die."

My shoulders sagged. "Oh...it was just a thought..."

"But it is possible that the Avatar born after him is alive and like you said Kyoshi did live a long time." Uncle said.

My lips turned up into a grin. "Yes...but if that's true where has he been all these years?"

"Who knows...perhaps you could tell Zuko about your theory." My smile dropped. "Or not."

"Sorry uncle, I just don't think that's a good idea." I mumbled, sitting back down. "He won't want to hear it."

"He might, it does have to do with the Avatar." He reasoned.

This only made me frown more. "Exactly, that's all he wants to talk about uncle. Not, 'how was your day?' or 'are you feeling well?' just the Avatar! I get why, I really do, but it's like nothing else matters! I know that's probably the case."

"He loves you, Sozai, don't forget that." He said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I know." I sighed. "I'll tell, if you like."

"Share your findings." He said with a grin.

Suddenly the door opened and Zuko stood there with a slight frown. One he always seemed to carry even when he wasn't mad. He looked between uncle and I, seeming a bit curious. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." I said, shaking my head. I gulped before turning to him. "Zuko, um, I found out something interesting-"

"The whereabouts of the Avatar?" He asked quickly, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

I shook my head. "No not that, but-"

"Then there is no use for the information." He scoffed.

Anger and hurt welled up inside me at the same time. I had read and research for a week before I found anything of importance and he thinks it's useless? I tightened my fist with a scowl. "Fine, whatever."

Zuko looked at me for a moment before turning to uncle. "I need to start my training now."

"Are you sure, the crew is a bit tired from your last session." He said. "Perhaps you should whined down and relax a bit."

"I'll relax when the Avatar is found and I am no longer a banished dishonor to the Fire Nation." He spat. "Besides the men are used at my digression, get them ready." He said walking out of the room.

I took off my glasses and rubbed at my eyes in frustration. "Do you see? He won't listen to reason! He just a big stupid dragon throwing his fire at everyone!"

"Calm yourself, Sozai." I did as he said and took a deep breath. "I know you're upset, but you can't let that control your mood."

"I know, I know. I'm just sick of him treating me like I don't matter." I said.

"You do." He assured. "After all if you weren't here, who would I play Paishou with?"

I tried to fight the urge to smile. "Yeah, yeah...lets go watch him be angry and brooding." He didn't disagree.

* * *

I sat on deck with a book as Zuko trained his fighting abilities. It was still cold, but I decided there was no point in complaining about it, at least out loud. I need to focus on something else, my book. I furrowed my eyes at the pages. "Interesting..." It was about the Avatar state, apparently if said person dies during this stage, they won't come back. That makes me wonder if this was the case. The Avatar was suppose to be an air bender, what if they were killed in the attack at their temples. Or as we say, a _fair_ and _honorable_ battle.

"Did you say something, Sozai?" Uncle asked, turning away from Zuko's fight.

I nodded. "It's this here." I pointed to the page. "It talks about the Avatar state. It's fascinating-"

"Sozai, incase you didn't realize, uncle is busy." Zuko said with frown, turning towards us with his arms crossed.

"Uncle called on me and I was answering." I said, standing to my feet. "Besides, I think it would be helpful to you."

"I need instruction, not book trivia." He snapped. "That won't do any good."

I strode toward him with a frown. "And wandering all over the world is? Zuko, if we just took the time to research and-"

"It's been three years, what have you found, nothing! Your books are useless, you're use-" He tried to stop himself before he went to far, but it was too late.

"I'm what? Say it." He didn't answer. "I'm useless?"

"I didn't mean it like that." He muttered.

"There's only so many ways useless can be said, Zuko. Right now, I can only think of one." I narrowed my eyes. "Let me tell you something, you've been parading around this ship like you're the king. Everyone is trying really hard to please you, but all you've done is show how ungrateful you are."

"Don't lecture me!" He said harshly. "You don't know anything."

"Oh I don't! Let me tell you something, did you know that if the Avatar dies in the Avatar state they don't come back!" His shoulders stiffened, but it didn't phase him.

"So, what are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying, what if there isn't an Avatar for you to find!" I flailed my arms in the air in frustration. "The cycle could have ended and you're only chasing ghosts!"

"Stop talking! If you thought that then why didn't you just stay in the Fire Nation."

"Because your my brother Zuko! Because I care about you? However, I'm starting to wish I had stayed." I growled out. I didn't mean that, but he was making me angry.

He looked hurt only for a moment, then his eyes hardened. "Yeah? Well I am too. In fact I wished you'd never came in the first place! You're not helping, all you do is read and take up space! You don't do anything!"

My eyes watered a bit before I threw my book at him. "Ugh!" I ran off the deck and into my room, slamming the door behind me. Curling under the covers, I cried and cried. I missed mom and I started to wonder where she was. Perhaps, I would find her on this journey rather than the Avatar. It would make me feel a lot better than tracking down the savior of the world and keeping them prisoner.

I wanted to get off this ship, but where would I go? There was nothing but ice for miles. I scowled into my pillow suddenly thinking of Zuko, I was stuck on this ship with him. "Stupid brother, idiot! I hate him!" I said with a muffled voice. I punched the fabric until I was satisfied. "Worse family ever." I frowned crossing my arms.

I was throwing a tantrum, but I didn't care. Zuko really hurt my feelings. Maybe I shouldn't have said we might never find the Avatar, bit he had to know that was a possibility. Did he? Father did this as a cruel ploy, so that Zuko might never come back.

Father.

I frowned at the thought of him. He was a horrible man and I could honestly say some part of me wanted him to parish. But who would rule the Fire Nation if he did? Azula? The mere thought made me shutter in discomfort, she would make a terrible ruler. Even worse than father and I believed that was saying something. No, Zuko despite my anger with him, would make a better ruler than all of them combined.

I sighed turning over to face the wall slowly closing my eyes.

* * *

"S...Sozai, Sozai are you awake?" I slowly awakened from my sleep to see that it was dark in the room. I must have slept for quite some time. "Hey are you still asleep?" My lips turned to grimace when I heard the voice.

Zuko.

"Go away." I muttered, pulling the covers over my head.

"Look...I just want to talk-"

"Leave, I don't want to hear it."

"Would you just-"

"No."

"Stop interrupting and let me-"

"No."

"Sozai-"

"Nope."

"STOP!" He yelled as the candle fire grew at his anger.

I sighed before turning to him with a deadpan. "What do you want, Zuko?"

"I came to...to give you back your book." He said, placing it on the bed.

"Thanks" I said without a wink of the eye. "Though, uncle or anyone else on this entire ship could have given this back."

"Yeah..." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"Well if that's all, you can leave now." I said turning back to lay down.

"Wait!" Zuko said in frustration. "I'm sorry, okay?"

I turned around so that I was facing him completely. "You're sorry?"

"Yes, so just stop being mad." He said with a furrowed brow.

I raised an eyebrow. "Did uncle tell you to come here?"

Zuko sputtered a bit. "That...it doesn't matter."

"So that's a yes?"

"Sozai, I am sorry. It's just, everything has been pressuring me. You understand that, right?" I looked away from him, but nodded. "So...you're not useless Sozai. I didn't mean it."

I looked at him from behind my bangs. "Promise?"

"Promise." He said with a firm nod.

I smirked. "Alright...you're partially forgiven."

"Partially?" He frowned.

I nodded. "Mmhmm."

"Well what do I have to do?" Zuko asked. I glanced to the book. "You want me to read?"

I laughed at his incredulous expression, shaking my head. "No, I just want you to listen, I know a prominent Prince such as yourself would never pick up a book."

He frowned. "Give me that."

I grinned as he sat back on my bed and leaned over, picking up a book myself. I glanced over to see that he was actually reading the book. Satisfied, I went back to my own novel.

* * *

The next morning I sat in the captains chair with my legs crossed. There was a nice view of the water in the stirring area."Maybe we can go around the Earth Kingdom again, it was nice and warm there."

"The Prince has ordered us to keep on trail to the South until further notice." He said, sounding a bit tired.

"Oh." Is all I said.

He seemed to realize exactly what he said. "Not that your opinion isn't welcome Princess. I only meant-"

"I know what you meant." I said laying my legs over the arm rest. "It was only a suggestion, no need to take it."

"I meant no disrespect Princess." He said.

I sighed. "I'm too bored to feel disrespected."

"Oh..." He said looking visibly less nervous.

"No need to feel afraid, not as if I could physically do anything to you." I said swinging my legs slightly.

"May I ask why you've come in here of all places?"

"You'd think that over the past three years I would have been in every room by now, but no, I haven't." I said, as I was silent for quite a long moment. "Say, I'd like your honest opinion."

"On what Princess?"

"Do you think we'll really find the Avatar, or is this a wild goose chase?" He stiffened.

"Well...I...um,...LOOK OVER THERE!" He yelled. For a moment I though he was trying to get out of my question, but I saw a bright blue light in the distance.

 _It could be the Avatar_ , I thought.

"Now, this may only be my suggestion. But I believe it is best for you to head in the direction of that light." I said with a serious tone.

"Y-Yes, Princess." I nodded before running out of the room and didn't stop until I was on deck.

I spotted Zuko as he yelled. "Tell them to change courses, toward the-"

"I've already told the Captain to change courses." I said once I was in front of him. "Do you think it could be him...or her?"

"What else could it be?" He asked with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "If we catch him, we can go home."

My eyes down casted. "Right, home."

* * *

Sometime after we started toward the light there was a flare that burst into the air. I recognized the scattered pattern, it was used to signal other Fire Nation ships. Someone must have set it off. Meaning that there were people around here or a village and we were headed straight for them. Somehow I was starting to worry. I hoped that Zuko wouldn't become too reckless and harm anyone. That was the last thing I wanted.

I took a deep breath. I turned my head when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was uncle with a comforting expression. "It will all work out."

"I hope so." I whispered. "I don't want anyone to get hurt." He didn't say anything after this. He knew as well as I did there was no promising that.

Soon a small wall of ice came into view and it looked as if it was man made. We were going to destroy it with our ship if we got any- ...and we killed it. Soldiers were ready with Zuko as he came out looking hard and proud. He turned to me.

"Maybe you should stay on the ship with uncle, it could be unsafe for you." He said, adjusting his helmet.

I shook my head. "No, I want to see this village. It's a wonder how anyone can live in such cold weather." He nodded before walking down the nose of the ship into the ice surface. I walked down between two soldiers with my arms behind my back.

This really was a small village. I grimaced at the damage we had done to their homes. The ground was cracked and uneven now. Suddenly a boy not much older than myself ran up the nose of the ship screaming, ready to attack. Brother easily took him down and kicked him over the side. I leaned over slightly to see the boy go head first into the snow. At least it was a soft landing, meaning he didn't hurt anyone yet. Good.

When we finally reached the bottom I realized just how small this village was. There was no grown men, only women and small children. Had the males been killed? Though I heard that Water Tribe men were fighting against the Fire Nation.

Against us.

The thought of that didn't taste well in my mouth when I looked at the results. I watched as Zuko walked up to them with a frown. "Where are you hiding him?"

The people didn't say anything and they all looked very frightened. "Perhaps they don't know anything." I suggested lightly.

He didn't look back, but replied. "I'm not taking that chance." Of course you wouldn't. He suddenly grabbed an elderly woman and my eyes widened. What was he doing? "He's about this age and master of all elements." When the people still said nothing he pushed the older woman back to the crowd. I relaxed a bit, good he hasn't done anything drastic yet.

Suddenly he threw a large flame of fire at the group and I tightened my fist. "I know your hiding him!"

"Zuko, just calm-" The boy that had fallen into the snow ran towards us once again screaming to attack. A soldier pulled me out of the way in time for Zuko to flip the boy over his head. He bent fire in his direction and I was becoming nervous once again. What if someone got hurt? Then again this boy seemed really keen on starting a fight. He threw a boomerang at Zuko and he easily dodged it.

A young boy tossed the older one a spear. "Show no mercy." He said. I looked at him curiously.

He ran at Zuko once again with the spear, but was immediately struck down and knocked in the head. I winced, that must have hurt. I blinked when the boomerang came back and smacked the young fire Prince in the head. He growled in anger and lit his hands a blaze. Suddenly a balled boy on a...penguin zipped in and knocked Zuko on his face. I tilted my head, he didn't really fit in with these people.

"Hey Katara, hey Sokka." I wasn't sure who either of those people were.

"Hey Aang...how ya doin'." The boy suddenly turned around lapped a staff onto the ground causing a huge gust of wind. I yelped being smacked into the ship.

"Ow..." I groaned. "Maybe I should have stayed on the ship..."

"Sozai, you alright?" Zuko asked.

"Ugh...I'm still breathing...I think..." I decided to stay where I was and just sit on the nose of the ship. I sat up to get a better look of the people.

"You'll pay if she is hurt." The Prince said with a frown. "You're the air bender and the Avatar. I've spent years preparing and meditating. To think that your just a child!"

"That child nearly broke my spine." I muttered as I rubbed my back.

"Well, you're only a teenager." Aang said with raised brow. Zuko glared as he threw fire at the boy and Aang blocked the best he could but the flames were scaring the village. "Wait! If I go with you, will you leave them alone?" My brother nodded. The guards took hold of his arms and started to push him forward.

"No Aang stop!" A girl said.

"It will be alright Katara." He said. Oooh so that's Katara. The screaming boy is Sokka if I assumed right. "Take care of Appa until I get back."

"Stand up, Sozai." Zuko said. "We're going home."

I nodded as I glanced down at the village, they all looked so said. I grimaced. "Sorry to disturb you all." I said awkwardly. They gave me strange and sad looks. "Okay...bye."

"Sozai!" Zuko yelled in warning.

"Coming, coming." I said walking onto the ship. When the door closed I peered down at Aang, the Avatar. "Hey..." He raised a brow at me. "...I'm gonna go now."

That's not how I pictured meeting the savior of the world.

 **I'm done for now.**


	4. Avatar Beats Girl Several Times

**Thank you for reviewing: sweetsnakes, Anime hotty lover.18, Virgo, Guest of honor and The Queen of Song. Also a big thank you to the follows and favorites.**

 **Disclaimer: Nope.**

I stared over at the Avatar's wooden staff in the corner. We had taken it from him. We had taken _him_.

"What's the matter, Sozai?" I jumped slightly before turning to my brother. He raised a questioning brow at my behavior. "You should be celebrating. We finally found the Avatar, after three long years!" He said with excitement filling his tone. I knew he was happy and I wanted so badly to feel the same for him, but that was impossible.

I pursed my lips before giving a stiff smile. "Yeah, um, woowho?" I raised a weak fist.

We were sitting in his quarters and I sat back against the wall, fiddling with a book. I was trying to get my mind off the fact that we just kidnapped a boy. The only one able to save the world from the Fire Nation. That didn't sit well with me at all.

"I don't understand you. One minute you're helping me and the next I can't even tell what you're thinking." He said with a frown.

I tried my hardest not to look him in the eye. "I know this is the most important thing to you, but it's unsettling to know it's a child. What is he, like twelve?"

"That doesn't matter. He's the Avatar, we need him and that's the end of it." Zuko said poking me in the forehead, with a cranky expression

I furrowed my brow, with a scowl. "Fine, fine, I just think the way you went about doing it was wrong. Those people had nothing to do with your search."

"That's where _you're_ incorrect, Sozai. They met and knew him." He said. "They gave us leverage."

"Even if that's true, they were only women and children." I shook my head. "None of them could defend themselves and you used fire against them."

Zuko paused for a moment, pondering over my words. "I...it was only to scare them, beside that boy stood up against me. As foolish as he was, he did."

I raised my brow. "You kicked him in the face and knocked him from thirty feet into the snow. I don't believe he was combat ready."

He huffed a bit raising the candle fire around him. "Why do you care so much? Sozai, I don't think you understand that we're going home! Something that I've - no - _we've_ wanted for three years! You should be happy for me - not worrying about some silly Watertribe boy."

I sighed. "Sure, whatever was I thinking, caring about other people. Silly me."

My brothers eyebrow twitched in aggravation. "You're really starting to annoy me."

"Good, I thought I was the only one." I stood to my feet and picked up my book.

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere less aggravating." Before closing his door, I heard him muttering to himself, but I didn't exactly care.

If he didn't agree with my opinion that was fine, but hurting innocent people was not okay. I held my book behind my back as I turned the next corner. I heard yelling, but I couldn't quite make out what was being said. Something about the Avatar...he escaped? Oh Zuko wouldn't be happy about that. I walked a bit faster down the hall, when I was suddenly knocked to the ground. My head hit the floor hard. I yelped in pain, before someone shushed me. I looked up, squinting my eyes through the sharp pulsing in the back of my skull.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were a solider." Someone whispered. My vision was still blurry, but I could see who it was. My eyes widened when I realized who I was looking at. The Avatar "Are you hurt?"

"You really like knocking the wind out of me, don't you?" I muttered rubbing the back of my head. There was already a bump forming.

"When did I...oh outside..." He said. "Couldn't you have dodged it, I mean you're a-"

"Nope, not a bender. Just a girl and you keep beating me up." I said with a casual nod. "I should write a book: Harmless girl gets beaten by Avatar (several times)."

"'You're not a bender?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, like I said, just a girl. Who you keep hurting."

"I'm sorry..." He said awkwardly.

"I suppose you are forgiven." I felt around for my glasses. "That's better now I can see...what?" I saw his mistrusting expression as he looked me over. I also saw his hands tied behind his back.

"Shouldn't you be warning the others by now? They are looking for me you know." He said slowly.

I stood to my feet. "I suppose I should." There was a pregnant pause. "If you're going to run it would be easier untied."

"Why are you tell me this?" He asked. "You're trying to trick me, aren't you?"

"Just a suggestion. What good would that do, I'm obviously powerless and by the time I yell, you'd be gone." I said with a shrug. We both turned when heard guards coming this way. "You should probably run now."

"Why are you helping me? Your Fire Nation." He said firmly. I almost rolled my eyes.

"I'm not, I'm just saying _if_ I were you _I'd_ run." I said lifting my glasses. "Also, I'd probably check the next hallway at the end to get my glider back. You know, if I had one."

The boy stared at me for a moment before smiling. "Thank you."

I blinked at him innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about." I glanced back when heard the voices getting louder. "I'd be careful and leave _now._ "

He opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it. The boy turned around and sped down the hallway. Only moments later the soldiers came through.

"Princess Sozai, the Avatar has escaped! Have you seen him come through here?"

I blinked up at them as if I was shocked. "He got away from you?"

They looked down in shame. "Yes, I'm afraid so, has he come this way?"

I held my chin. "No I can't say he has, but I've read about this sort of thing, you know. Perhaps he made his way down lower. The Avatar controls water - among other elements - maybe he's using that to escape?"

"You heard the Princess, research the lower deck immediately!" They ran past me and I smirked, turning on my heel in the opposite direction. With any luck, the Avatar would have his staff and he would leave this ship unharmed.

When I turned, Iroh stood there which startled the living day lights out of me. "Oh Spiritual Lion-Turtle! Uncle you scared me..."

He walked closer with his arms behind his back. "I know that look." Simple words by I stiffened.

With a gulp, I did my best to keep a steady voice. "I don't know what you mean."

"That's what you say, however, my brother had the same expression whenever he did something wrong."

I frowned at the mention of my father. "I'm _nothing_ like him."

"Perhaps not, but you are his daughter." He said.

"Like I said, that means nothing." I mumbled. "Besides, I haven't done anything wrong."

"No, but you are hiding something; what you told those guards isn't true and you knew that. Which leads me to ask why?" He said.

I gaped a bit. "Um...I...well..."

I was saved when there was a yell with the Avatar zooming down the hallway with Zuko desperately chasing out after him. I looked at Uncle a moment before running out down the hall. I wasn't sure what I would do when I got outside, but I had to know what was happening. When I finally made it outside, I saw the Avatar and my brother fighting. From the looks of it, the boy wasn't winning. I became nervous when he was very close to falling off the ship.

Suddenly I heard a loud animal like noise. I stepped out a bit further and looked up at the sky. "What is that?" My brother said.

"It's a Sky Bison." I mumbled excitedly. I never thought I'd see one in real life. When I read about the Air Nation, I knew it was custom to pick out there own Bison. This must have been the Avatar's.

"Appa!" I rest my case.

However, this seemed to distract the Avatar and Zuko firebent him off the ship completely. My eyes widened as I ran on deck. "Zuko, what are you doing?!"

"Sozai?" He furrowed his brow.I huffed running over to the edge. What happened? Did he drown?

"Aang! No, Aang!" A girl yelled in distress.

I peered back up at the Sky Bison that looked to be landing on the ship. The girl was just as much or even more freaked out than I was. What if he died? I gulped leaning over the side of the ship. I waited for a moment, nervously searching the water. Suddenly the boy(now known as Aang) lifted himself out of the water. Only he was circled by a giant spiral of water. His eyes were glowing blue, along with his tattoos.

"The Avatar state..." I whispered, staring at Aang in awe. "Wow."

Soldiers ran onto the deck of the ship, as if they could fight something this magnificent. My eyes widened when a circular wave of water hit everyone on the ship, including me. I yelped when I was thrown to the side. Ugh, he's been beating me up all day! I groaned as I turned onto my back and looked over at the other end of the ship. The Bison had landed and the two watertribe teenagers got off, hurrying over to Aang(who had fainted).

"Where is Zuko?" I struggle to stand up. The guards were still down for the count, being that they were closer to the burst of water. I noticed the Watertribe boy knocking my brother back off the ship.

"Zuko!" I yelled running over to where the Watertribe boy stood. He jabbed my brother in the head with a stick, knocking him completely off. "No!"

"That's for the watertri-oh!" The boy stopped abruptly when I shoved him out of the way. I glared, running over to the ledge glancing down at Zuko. Relief flood through me. He didn't fall off. I turned back the boy and pulled him a little ways, pushing him towards the Bison.

"Get out of here." I whispered harshly.

He blinked. "What?"

"Am I incomprehensible? I said leave, hurry while there's still a way out." I said, glancing toward the soldiers, as they started to recover. "Go!"

"You-Fire? I'm...AGH!" He reluctantly did as I said. I huffed as the girl started to bend water. My eyes widened. They said there were no more waterbenders in the South. She's one of them.

And she froze the boy...great...

"Katara!" He yelled.

"Sorry!"

I planted my hand on my forehead. They weren't going to escape at this rate, and I had no way of distracting anyone. Please, Spiritual Lion-Turtle, let them get away. Out of pure luck the girl, boy and the Avatar flew up on the Bison. Hope rushed through me. I needed to know that they we're going to flee successfully. I turned when Uncle and Zuko shot fire up at the Bison. My eyes widened in fear. I almost screamed 'no'. Thankfully Aang smacked it with his staff...and then I really did scream.

"Aaaahhhhh!" I yelled when an avalanche of snow was falling toward us. Zuko pulled me back at the last moment. I tripped over my own feet and fell to the ground with him. I looked up heaving in and out with hard breaths. "Thanks..."

He scowled. "There I helped you, why didn't you help me when I fell off. You were right there?"

"I...I was trying to get that guy back for knocking you over...sorry. I'm not much of a fighter." Which was true, I did push him.

He sighed in frustration, that made me feel a bit guilty. However, I knew I did the right thing. The Avatar needs bring balance back to the world.

Even if he is just a child.

"Well, good news to the Fire Nation, the Avatar is just a little kid." Uncle said.

Zuko scowled back at him. "That little kid just did all this. I won't underestimate the again. Dig this ship out and follow them!" He yelled to the soldiers.

"Zuko...their frozen." I said awkwardly pointing to the scene. That girl...no Katara? I think that's her name - she really did a number on them.

He opened is mouth, looking between me and his ice covered men. "...as soon as you're done with that."

I slowly walked toward the snow placing a hand on it. "This is going to take a while, he's really power, even with just air."

"That's why we need to recapture him and quickly." Zuko said. I pursed my lips, turning to leave when he grabbed my arm. "Tell me everything you've read on the Avatar. Weakness and all."

"You could just read it yourself, you know." He crossed his arms with a frown. "Ugh, fine. Be lazy, I guess tell you will pass the time well enough. Let's go inside it's cold." I glanced back at Uncle who looked at me like he had with our earlier conversation.

He knew I had done something.

I swallowed, before turning around and quickly walking inside with Zuko walking behind me.

* * *

 _One week later_

When our ship had finally been dug out, it was clear how much damage had been done. Zuko ordered that we abandon our search for the Avatar at least until we fix the ship. It wasn't safe to travel on until then. I was actually glad for this, for one the cold air was beginning to be too much for me. Two, I didn't want the Avatar to be found now. Ironic I know, for three years I shared similar hopes with my brother. I wanted the Avatar to come back and stop how the world had become. However, after a while I had lost hope and was so sure that no one was coming for us.

Now he back, but he's twelve.

I blinked when I realized the ship had stopped. "Oh we're here."

There was several ships docked; I hoped no one we knew personally had decided to come here as well. Usually people we knew didn't like us - no, most people we knew didn't like us. "Sozai, stop day-dreaming and come on, or I'm leaving you up here." Zuko barked.

I frowned. He had been all huffy ever since the Avatar had gotten away. Of course, secretly this was my fault, but he didn't have to breath fire on everyone. "I'm coming, don't get your pony tail in a twist." I muttered, walking down the nose of the ship behind them.

"We need to hurry the repairs on the ship Uncle, I don't want to lose his trail." My brother said.

"You mean the Avatar?" He said.

Zuko practically jumped at us. "Don't mention his name on these docks. Once word gets out that he's alive, every firebender will be looking for him and I don't want anyone getting in the way."

"Getting in the way of what Prince Zuko?" I recognized that voice. I hated that voice. I hated the person too.

"Captain Zhao." Zuko said, taking a step back from the man. I didn't blame him. The man had an air around him that just made you want to punch him square in the nose. Of course he was a firebender and I wasn't, so I would obviously lose.

"It's Commander Zhao now." He said with a cocky smile. Spirits, I hated him so much. "Prince Zuko and General Iroh, great hero of our nation."

"I'm retired." He said with a bow.

I frowned. Did he forget me on purpose? I coughed rather obnoxiously to get his attention. He glanced over to me with a mocking smile. "Ah, Princess Sozai, who could forget about you?"

"Apparently you, Commander" I dryly replied. I winced when Uncle elbowed me in my side. I bowed, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. I'm sure he knows that I hate him. Perhaps that's why he eggs me on so much.

"Well the Firelord's brother, son and daughter are all welcome guests. What brings you to my harbor?" He asked. I narrowed my eyes. This belonged to him? We were going to have some problems then.

"Are ship is being prepared." Uncle explained easily.

Zhao frowned. "That's quite a bit of damage."

"Yes! You wouldn't believe what happened!" Zuko paused. "Uncle, tell Commader Zhao what happened."

"Oh it was incredible." He said with a smile before fading into confusion. "Did we crash or something?"

I sighed, taking a step foward. They were so horrible at lying. "We were at sea and apparently some people just don't know how to steer. An Earth Kingdom ship rammed right into the nose."

"Really?" He said taking an uncomfortably large step toward me.

"Yes?" I said, inching toward my Uncle.

"Hm, well you'll just have to tell me all the details." I'm pretty sure I just did. "Will you all join me for a drink?"

"Sorry, but we have to go." Zuko said frowning at the man. For once I was happy that my brother was naturally a rude person. Uncle grabbed his shoulder.

"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect." He scolded. "We would be honored to join you. Do you have in Jin sang tea, it's my favorite."

Zuko huffed in aggravation. "Keep acting like that and hes going to notice something is up." I whispered to him.

"I don't care." He replied. "We need to hurry up and fix the ship so we can get back on track."

"Just calm down and act natural, he'll know if something is up. You're not very subtle." I said. He frowned. "Don't give me that, you almost choked back there. I saved your firebending butt."

"Fine, I admit you are a pretty good liar." He said narrowing his eyes. "We can use that to our advantage here."

"What?" I blinked. "You want me to lie to Zhao?"

"What's the big deal? You did it a moment ago."

"Yeah, that was that and this is this. What if he starts asking questions I can't cover up, like you know who." I muttered.

"Just jumble up some stuff from your spiritual books and make it sound believable." He said leaning toward my ear. "I don't want anyone else going after him, not when I'm so close."

I pursed my lips. "Alright."

* * *

I held my head up with the palm of my hand, scrunching up my face. Commander Zhao was explain his ultimate plan of ruining the world and it wasn't very fun listening to him. I can't understand why Zuko would want to go to these things. I almost zone out completely until he finally said something that interested me.

"So how is your search for the Avatar holding up?" I glanced over to Iroh when he tipped over all of the spears.

"...my fault entirely." I would have laughed, had this moment not been so serious.

Zuko glanced at me for have a second. "We haven't found anything." He stated firmly.

"And did you really think you would? The Avatar has been dead for over one-hundred years along with all of the airbenders." My brother looked at me a second time and I tried not to give anything away. Zhao noticed our glances and smirks. I hated that too. "Unless you think you've found something."

"No, nothing." He said calmly.

"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one that would keep the Fire Nation from winning this war. If you have an ounce of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you know." Zuko glared turning to me.

Great now it's my turn. "Commander Zhao, if I may input."

"Go right ahead." He said with a mocking smirk. I loath him.

"Well, since all of the air benders are dead, the cycle should have gone on to the next element. No one has said anything, and there hasn't been any news. So isn't it possible that the cycle has been broken completely?"

Zhao wasn't smiling anymore and I was proud to know that I caused that frown. "It's like you said, the Avatar probably died a long time ago." Zuko said stand up from his seat. He walked over to the door but the guards stopped him. I tensed at this.

"We questioned the crew like you asked and they said that Prince Zuko had the Avatar in his custody, but he got away." The soldier said. I scowled at the ground. Of course they wouldn't be loyal to Zuko when all he's done is yell at them.

"I'll ask you again." Zhao said walking behind my brother. "How was your ship damaged?"

* * *

I frowned deeply at the floor. Commander Zhao had us as prisoners while he got a search party ready. "Stop or your face will get stuck that way." Uncle said.

I sighed. "We're stuck here until he's done doing whatever. We might as well had told him the truth. Wouldn't have made a difference." Zuko scowled as said man came through the ten.

"My search party is ready and as soon as I'm on my ship you'll be free to go."

"Why? Are you afraid I'll try and stop you?" Zuko spat.

Zhao laughed. "You stop me? Impossible."

Zuko stood up in anger. "Don't underestimate me! I will capture the Avatar before you."

Uncle stood to his feet. "Prince Zuko that's enough."

"Yeah, Zuko calm down." I said.

"I have hundreds of ships, you're just a banished prince. You have no home, no allies, your own father doesn't even want you."

Good, it would be strange if a heartless monster actually loved.

"You're wrong!" He yelled. "Once I return home with the Avatar, he will restore my honor and give me back my rightful place on the throne.

"If your father wanted you back he would have taken you in by now, but you're still here."

"You're wrong."

"You've got the scar to prove it."

Ooooh shouldn't have said that.

"Maybe you'd like one to match!"

"Is that a challenge?"

No he's asking you out on a date. Of course it is!

"Agni Kai at sun set."

"Fine, it's a shame your father isn't here for me to humiliate you, I suppose your uncle and sister will do." I frowned. He left out of the tent.

"Prince Zuko have you forgotten the last time you faced a master?"

"I will never forget." Zuko said.

I pursed my lips. "Just don't act so brash okay? It's bad enough on a normal day. Now we're adding Agni Kai's into the mix."

"I will not be defeated by him." He simply stated, walking out of the tent.

I glanced over to Uncle. "I think he'll be okay, right?"

"I hope so." Is all he said. That wasn't very reassuring.

* * *

It was sun set. Commander Zhao and Zuko were about to fight. I hoped that Zuko burned him at least a little. Uncle told me to be wary since I had no control over fire. I was told to stand further back than everyone else.

"Remember your basics." Uncle said.

"Take him down, don't be afraid to chair off his side burns." I said with a smirk.

"I won't let him win." He said with a nod. Turning to Zhao, he took a fighting stance.

"Ready to lose?" Zhao said.

I rolled my eyes. Then they began, it was fluent motions of anger and fire all at once. I suppose that was the same thing. However, I thought it was beautiful as well. I was so entranced by the fire, I hadn't realized that Zuko was beginning to lose.

"No! Fight 'em back! Stand your ground!" I cheered. I wasn't sure if I was actually helping, but I said all I could to encourage him. I started to smile when Zuko was starting to win again and he force Zhao to the ground. "Yes!"

"Do it!" The Commander yelled. Zuko had the opportunity hurt him, but I knew he wouldn't take it. He through a bolt of fire at the ground beside him, before turning around to walk away.

Zhao stood up in anger ready to throw another flame when Uncle caught his foot and threw him to the ground. I blinked. When did he even move? Zuko growled at him.

"No, do not taint you victory." Uncle said. "So this is the great Commander Zhao, even in exile Prince Zuko still has more honor than you. Thanks for the tea it was delicious."

Oooooh burn...literally! I smiled at this, waiting for Zuko and Uncle to catch up to me. Without warning I jumped on Zuko's back, patting his shoulders. He reluctantly held me up. "That was awesome! You made your baby sister so proud! To make things better it was Zhao, how much sweeter can this day get?"

Zuko sighed, but allowed me to hold on to his shoulders. "Yeah, yeah, are you getting down?"

"Nope."

"Fine...Uncle did you really mean that?"

"Yes, Jin Sang is my favorite tea." Uncle said with a smile.

I laughed a bit. Things were going alright, for now.

 **Say something I'm giving up on you JK, no I'm not. I just like reviews.**


	5. Fish and Bad Dreams

**Thank you so much for the follows favorites and reviews!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own this!**

"We don't know where he is?" I asked Uncle. Somehow I was annoyed and relieved at the same time. Annoyed, because Zuko had a temper when he didn't get what he wanted. Relieved, because, well, it was for the greater good and the balance of the world on the line. "So we don't have any leads or anything?"

Uncle shook his head. "No, nothing. After the incident with the ice, we haven't found a single trace of him."

"Oh, Zuko is going to be really mad when he hears that." I said, adjusting my glasses.

"And what about you?" He asked suddenly.

I turned to him slightly. "Hm? What about me?"

"I'd think that you would be more worried about your brothers success." He said, with tone I couldn't quite describe.

I pursed my lips. "Of course I'm worried. I'm just calmer than Zuko, you know that."

"Do I? Since the Avatar was on this ship, your attitude toward the search has been different." He quietly stated.

I gulped before turning to him with a furrowed brow. "What are you trying to say, Uncle?"

He shrugged. "I'm not accusing you of anything, Sozai; I'm simply stating your change in demeanor."

There was a silence and I wasn't exactly sure what to say. "Well...I guess...knowing that the Avatar alive changes some things."

"I see." Is all he said.

I looked him in the eye with built up guilt and fear. "It's true I feel different, but please don't tell Zuko. I'm still on his side, I promise."

"Tell him what? I didn't hear anything." He said as I slowly smiled at him. I hugged his side.

"Thank you, Uncle."

We walked side by side down to Zuko's room. I knocked on the door, but there was no answer. I pushed open the door to see him meditating on the floor, sitting in front of the candle flames.

"Heeey..." I said with an awkward smile. He didn't look at me though.

"Sozai, we've been over this. Don't interrupt me when I'm meditating." He said. "Besides, the only reason you should be here is if you have news on the Avatar." My mouth gaped open before my eyes flickered over to Uncle. He nodded as if he knew what I was thinking.

"We have news on the Avatar, but I don't think you're going to like it." Uncle said.

"Uncle, you always told me that a leader needs to keep a leveled head. Now whatever you need to tell me, I can take it." Zuko said.

I held an unconvinced expression. "Well, we have no idea where he is." I jumped when the fire grew bigger as he stood up.

"What!" He yelled.

"I thought you said you could take it." I grumbled, taking a step back from him.

"You should really open a window in here." Uncle said, waving away the flames.

"Give me the map!" My brother demanded as he snatched the paper from him.

"According to what we've been told, he's been spotted in multiple places." He continued.

Zuko furrowed his brow. "How am I going to find him? He's obviously very skilled at evasive maneuvering."

"It doesn't really look like he's going in any specific direction." Uncle said.

I raised my brow. "Maybe he isn't, I mean he's twelve and those other two don't seem much older. Perhaps they don't know what their doing."

"No, I've learned that we shouldn't underestimate him and I won't start now." Zuko said. "Uncle, I need to find him as soon as possible." He took the map and marched out of the room like he was on a mission. Of course he was, but he looked more determined than ever. Since the Avatar had shown himself, ironically, a new fire was lit inside of Zuko. He had drive now and I couldn't tell whether or not I was happy about that.

"Is there something wrong, Sozai?" I blinked out of my daze and looked up at my uncle.

"Oh, um, nothing. I was just...thinking." I said with a choppy tone.

"I see, well don't think too hard. A worried mind leads to an unsteady heart, very bad for your health." Uncle said patting a hand on my head, ruffling my hair. I scrunch up my face with a slight smile.

"Thanks for the advice; I'll keep it in mind." I fixed my now unkempt bangs. He gave me a grin before walking out of the room and leaving me with my thoughts.

* * *

 _Two days later_.

Uncle wanted to have a small family dinner and Zuko wanted to strategize on the capture of the Avatar. I just wanted to read, so we all decided to compromise and do it all at once. Apparently this evening we were going to have fish, as told by the cook earlier today. I was a bit excited for that considering fish was my favorite type of food. My stomach growled at the thought of the tender sea creature in my belly. No, scratch that. That sounds weird when I put it that way.

"...Sozai...Sozai, are you listening to anything I'm saying?" I poked my head from behind my book to be faced with Zuko's grouchy expression.

"No, sorry. What did you say?" I meekly asked.

He huffed. "Nevermind." I gave an apologetic expression, but he shrugged it off. "Is that book really that interesting?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's about the Unagi. A gigantic water serpent! It's known habitat is actually Kyoshi Island waters."

"This is interesting how?" He asked.

I frowned. "You could learn a thing or two from a book. Besides, I recall seeing you reading one of my _boring_ novels not that long ago."

"Yeah, that was information on the Avatar and encase you haven't notice, that is our main priority." He in an undermining tone. "If you'd take the time to listen - you'd see what I was saying is more important."

"You don't even know where he is." I snapped. "Sorry for trying to pass the time in a way I enjoy. We can't all be angry and brooding."

"Well maybe you should-" There was an awkward cough from the cook standing a the door. Zuko glanced at me with a glare before speaking to the man. "Come in."

He set the food on the table and started to pass out portions onto our plates. "Prince Zuko, we have the where about's of the Avatar."

My eye widened slightly. He did? How? "Where is he?" My brother demanded.

"He's on Kyoshi Island." The cook said with a bow of his head.

"Kyoshi Island?" Zuko said glancing to me.

"What were you saying about my books? They aren't important?" I said batting my eyelashes at him. He rolled his eyes and snatched book. "Hey!"

"Uncle, ready my rhinos. He's not getting away this time." He walked toward the exit.

"Are you going to eat that?" Uncle said, referring to Zuko's plate. He snatched it up with my book still in hand.

"I was going to save it for later!" He said stomping out of the room.

I huffed while crossing my arms. "He could have at least asked for it. Dumb brute."

"Do you want your fish?" Uncle asked.

Being that I was a bit crabby I picked up the whole fish and ate it in one go. " 'm dune." I said with a mouth full of food.

I walked out of the room hearing Uncle say "She could have just said 'yes'."

* * *

We actually weren't that far from Kyoshi Island, it only took us about two or three hours to get there. I leaned over the railing on the top deck when I saw the island come into view. "Wow, it's so pretty." I whispered with a smile. However, I slowly started to frown when I remember what my brother was about to do when he got onto the land.

I need to do something.

I walked over to Zuko as he stationed himself on his rhino. "So am I getting on with you or..."

"You're staying here." He said with a stern tone.

I gaped at him. "W-What - why!"

"You have no fighting experience and you would only get in the way."

I balled up my fists. "You can't keep me here, how is now different from any other time?"

"Look, I don't need you arguing with me, Sozai. You're staying here and that's the end of it." He said looking down on me. Physically and Psychologically.

I frowned. "But, I know the island, I've read and seen maps on it. I could help you!" I was desperate now.

"I saw it too. Besides, if you're captured, they might use you as leverage and I can't let that happen." That almost sounded nice. "It could interfere with capture of the Avatar."

Never mind, he failed.

"Uncle tell him I can help! I urged with my eyes.

He pursed his lips. "I have to agree with your brother, Sozai. You have no experience in battle, so perhaps it is better for you to stay safe on the ship."

"Urgh!" I groaned walking back up the ramp. This wasn't fair! How was I going to help the Avatar escape if I was stuck on this stupid boat!

I frowned down at the back of my brother's head as they road off to destroy an innocent village. I had to get there some how. I need to at least try to do the right thing. I nodded to myself. That's what I was going to do. When the rhinos were out of sight, I crept back onto the top deck and subtly walked toward the nose of the ship. It was still lowered, good. That way I could easily get off. Just a little closer and-

"Princess, what are you doing? Prince Zuko order me to keep you on this ship, it's for your safety." I stiffened and slowly turned to see that it was one of the soldiers. I glanced back to the ramp. It was literally five inches away. I stared at him for a moment before I made a run for it. "Wait! Princess, stop!"

I did no such thing and ran down into the forest, zig-zagging through the trees. This way it would make it harder for them to find me. I realized that I would really get it from Zuko for not listening to him, but this is something that I had to do. I continued to run, however, I soon realized that I was very much out of shape. Azula and I were twins, but I never got into being a healthy person. Despite the fact that I was exactly the same size as her, I hadn't inherited the active gene in our family.

"Ahhh" I groaned as I bent over and held my hands on my knees. "Spiritual Lion-Turtle, running is not my thing." I jumped when I heard someone behind me. I jogged around the back of the village and my brother was causing chaos for these people. There was a heavy feeling in my chest, but I couldn't show myself. That wouldn't help anything. I snuck around the side of the building to the best of my ability. I circled around another house when I saw the Avatars bison with the Watertribe girl on top.

"Stay back!" The girl said.

I blinked as I held up my hands in surrender. "Wow, I mean no harm I promise. I couldn't do anything if I tried. Apparently I have no fighting experience."

"What?"

"Listen, I'm trying to help you guys here. If you fly around the Eastern side of the island they won't be able to catch you guys." I said as the bison stared at me. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing yet.

"Wait...you're the girl Sokka was talking about!" She said. "Why would you help us, is this a trick?"

I sighed. "No, it's not. Look if I see your brother I'll lead him this way. Just make sure you go on Eastern side, there are clouds and stuff so you're more well hidden." I didn't give her a chance to say anymore before jogging around the next building. As I turned I started to lose my foot and smacked onto the ground.

"Wahh!" I yelped as I tripped into the ground. "Agh, why do I do things?" I awkwardly started to get up.

"Stay where you are." The female said. I paused as I looked up at two girls? I think? I blinked before I realized my glasses were gone.

"Um, so this is awkward to ask, but could you perhaps hand me my glasses, please?" They didn't say anything. "Look guys, I'm literally blind without my glasses."

"Well while you're 'blind' your Fire Nation buddies are burning down this village." The male voice said.

I nodded. "Yes, I know and I'm really sorry about that...are you a guy? Your wearing makeup so I'm not sure."

"Ak! Give the girl her glasses!" The flustered boy yelled.

The girl handed them to me and I put them on. "Thanks..." I blinked a few times. I examined them both before staring at the boy. I recognized those bright blue eyes. "Oh, you're the Watertribe boy aren't you? Sokka, right?"

Sokka narrowed his eyes before yelling in realization. "I remember you!"

The girl raised her brow. "You two know each other?"

"Sort of, not really." I said briefly. We all turned when we heard people yelling in fear.

"...We'll hold them off you guys get out of here" The girl said before glancing to me.

"I'll take care of her, Sukki, don't worry." He said grabbing onto my arm. I looked him up and down with a raised brow. Take care of me? She hesitated before nodding and running away.

I tried to run, but he was still holding my arm. "So are you going to let go or..."

"I never got to ask you why you tried to help us before." Sokka said.

I shrugged. "Maybe I just don't like how my brother does things."

"You brother?"

"The hostile guy lighting everything on fire, yeah, that's him." I said with guilt filling my tone. His eyes widened. "But that doesn't matter, your sister is two buildings down on the bison. I already told her where to go, just make sure you have the Avatar before you go."

"You really want to help us escape?" He asked. "How can I trust you?"

"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to, just do what I say and take it from there." I said.

My calm attitude seemed to be bothering him. "Argh! Fine!" He started to walk away before he turning around. "Not that it's that important since you are the Fire Nation...but what's your name?"

"Sozai." I said with a slight smile.

"Hey! No smiles! I didn't ask because I trust you! I just needed...leverage against you."

"You're kind of telling me your plan. Are you sure that would still work?"

"Agh! I'm leaving now!"

"That would be best." He finally gave in and ran around toward the bison. Aang made eye contact with me before getting on Appa.

"Appa, yip yip!" He said before they flew in the air.

"Back to the ship, don't let him get away!" Zuko said. This was my chance. I took a deep breath before running out into the open. My brother stared at me with a furrowed brow.

"Sozai?"

"Heeeyyy..." I said with small fidget in my feet.

"I thought I told you to stay on the ship! Why didn't you listen to me?" He snapped.

I frowned. "You didn't really expect me to just sit around like a good little Princess did you?"

"I didn't want you to get in the way-"

"And I didn't!" Not that you know of anyway.

"You don't-" He stopped looking up at the sky. I turned around to see Aang on a...

"Unagi." I said with a smile.

"What's he doing with that?" Zuko demanded as he looked at me. I bit back the joy on my expression as I turned to him.

"Unagi is a water serpent so he's probably going to-"and that's when we were drenched in water. "...soak us."

Zuko's frown deepened with every drop that feel on us. His gaze turned to me and I gave an awkward shrug. "Back to the ship!" He demanded. I took a step and my brother grabbed my arm. My lips turned downward before I yanked away from his hand. "You have some serious explaining to do."

"I don't have to do any." I sneered. "Your not father, you don't get to boss me around."

"What!" He yelled, looking slightly hurt by my comment. "I'm not trying to be father, I'm just - you, ugh! Just get on the ship!"

"I was doing that anyway!" I snapped back at him, turning on my foot. I grumbled before turning to my Uncle. "Can I ride with you?"

"Hop on." He said. I struggled a bit to get on top of the rhino. Uncle had to help me a bit, which was embarrassing. I sat in front with him keeping me steady. Zuko was in front of us and I glared at the back of his head.

"You know, if your eyes could fire-bend I'm sure your brothers head would be burnt to crisp." Uncle joked.

I sighed. "Sorry, he's just been really getting on my nerves lately. If were not fighting, were either glaring and getting under each others skin."

"Perhaps you should have stayed on the ship then." He suggested.

"I couldn't do that...I didn't want Zuko bossing me around." Surprisingly, that wasn't a lie. "I already have one father I don't need another one." As much I disliked my own father I didn't need my brother as a replacement.

"Your brother just wants you to be safe, Sozai."

"Yeah, more like stay out of the way." I grumbled. "That's all he's been saying lately and it's not like I'm purposely getting hurt just to bother him."

"Exactly." He said.

I blinked before turning back to look at my uncle. "What do you mean?"

"You should talk to him about it and be calm."

I wanted to protest, but I just settled with a nodded.

When we got back to the ship I got off, holding my arms behind my back. Zuko took off his helmet and turned to his men. "Follow the direction he went, now! I don't want to lose his trail!" He stormed down into the lower deck. I was hesitant to follow after him considering what I had just said about him. I took a deep breath before walking down toward his room. When I got there, I felt a nervousness in the pit of my stomach. I shook it off and opened up his door.

"This had better be about the Avatar." He snapped. He back was faced toward me, so he didn't know I was the one standing there.

"No, it's just Sozai. Sorry to disappoint." I answered, fidgeting at the door. "Can I come in?"

"No."

Well then. "...I'm already in so you might as well say yes." I said before closing the door.

"I said no-"

"Look I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say you were like father. It just slipped out cause I was mad." His back was still facing toward me. "Would you at least look at me when I'm apologizing? I really am sorry, I was just mad. It's just we never seem to get along and this is what I'm starting to get use to."

Zuko turned to me. "I didn't tell you not to come because I wanted to be like our father." He grimaced a bit when he said this. "I had a dream..."

"You had a dream?" I repeated with a raised brow.

He gave a embarrassed nod. "I know it sounds stupid when I say it out loud, but my dream was about you. You left just like mom. I tried looking for you, but no matter how hard I search I could never find you. When I had given up all hope I found you..." I stared at Zuko, waiting for him to finish. "But you were on the ground and you weren't moving...you were..."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "That was just a dream, Zuko. You know nothing is going to happen to me right? I've got my big bruiting brother here to protect me."

He gave a half hearted glare before nodding. "Yeah and I've a book worm of little sister to look after."

"Awe, were having a moment." I said. "We should hug or something." I held my arms for him and he rolled his eyes, but patted a hand on top of my head. "This works."

"Yep."

"...Is the moment over now?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, well I'll leave you to your meditating." I said, taking a step back from him with a smile. I turned toward the door and he held onto my arm.

"Sozai, keep that to yourself, okay?" He looked embarrassed to have even told me such irrational fear.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Just you and me." I said as he let my arm go. I closed the door behind me and started down the hall.

I started to think about our circumstances once again and it filled my heart with guilt. I didn't want my brother to fail, but in order for everything to work out that's what need to happen. I knew what I need to do and it involved my father never granting back Zuko's honor.

 **Reviews are cool. You could be cool if you review.**


	6. Proper Introductions

**Disclaimer: I don't own it.**

I held a deep frown on my face with my arms crossed in disapproval. "Zuko this is a bad idea. We should just turn around."

Yesterday, Zuko had spotted the Avatar leaving a small village when we had docked the day before. My brother, to put it kindly 'interrogated', the head of the village. Apparently the Avatar was headed to Roku's Temple. In Fire Nation territory.

"No, there's no turning back, we know where the Avatar is so we need to take this chance." He sounded so desperate. Two weeks of non-stop chasing must really be getting to him. Every time there was word of Aang's location, it seemed like we were always two steps behind him. Now that we know where he is Zuko won't stop for anything, even if he's banned from his destination.

"Prince Zuko, have you forgotten that you were banished from the Fire Nation?" Uncle Iroh said. "In all of your sixteen years this is the most foolish."

"I'm chasing the Avatar! My father will understand why I'm trespassing!" Zuko tried to reason.

"Are you serious? If being understanding was father's job he would get fired, no pun intended!" I countered. "Zuko, what if your caught?"

The stubborn prince ignored me and turned back to the telescope. "There they are! Full speed ahead!" He yelled, jumping down to the main deck.

"What is he going to do?" I asked uncle.

"Shoot them down, I suppose."

My eyes widened. "Shoot them?" I ran through the door with uncle walking behind me. I didn't stop until I saw my brother in front of me. "Zuko what are you doing!"

He turned back to me. "I have to stop them before they get there." The floor opened and the catapult raised up with a large flammable rock was sitting inside. Zuko lit it a flame.

I began to cough and swat away the smoke. "That smells horrible." I mumbled.

"Could you shoot them down with something more fragrant?" Uncle asked fanning away the smoke.

"Unce!" I scolded, turning back to the angry prince. "Zuko, what if the impact kills them? What then?"

He hesitated only for a moment. "That's a risk I'm going to take." He took a sword and cut the ball of fire loose, sending it into the air.

Thankfully they dodged it, but there was still more trouble ahead. "A blockade." I said as I looked at all the ships closing off the path.

"Technically we're still in Earth Kingdom waters; turn back now and there won't be any consequences." Uncle said.

"He's not turning around." Zuko muttered as he stared up at the flying bison

I furrowed my brow and pursed my lips, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Zuko, please just turn around. You'll get in trouble if we keep going."

He looked me in the eye with an apologetic expression. "Sorry, Sozai. Run the blockade!" He pointed to the hoard of ships.

I paled when countless fire balls were being thrown our way. I screamed when a few actually hit our ship and water crossed over the deck. I slipped and hit my back on the wooden surface. I felt someone wrap there arms around me. I saw that it was uncle, my lip trembled as I hugged my arms around his middle.

"Prince Zuko, the engine is damaged, we need to stop!" One of the men yelled.

"We're not stopping!" Zuko yelled.

I held my hand over my head with my eyes closed until it was over. I glared at my brother, before I saw that we were going to be crushed my two larger ships. "Zuko, stop! We're going to collide if we don't turn around!" I pleaded. Couldn't he see how ridiculous this was getting? We could lose our lives!

"We can make it!"

"Argh!" I yelled in frustration. "You're being impossible right now!" The ships suddenly stopped and I saw that I was Commander Zhao that was shooting at us. Never have I hated someone more than at this moment. When we got through and it looked like we were clear, I walked up to Zuko and pushed him as hard as I could. "You could have killed everyone! What was all that talk about wanting to keep me safe! It seems more like you want me to die!"

"Sozai I-"

"No! Just forget it, you don't care anyway." I sneered. We were all quiet for a while before Zuko decided to open his stupid mouth again.

"Uncle...why did Zhao lets us get away?" He questioned.

"Because he knows that you'll lead him straight to the prize, the Avatar." Uncle answered.

"Well...if he wants a trail he'll get one." Zuko said.

"Yeah, you do that." I spat in anger, pushing past him with my shoulder. It was clear that Zuko's obsession with the Avatar was far greater than any love he felt for his younger sister. He'd probably let me die if that meant having the Avatar in his grasp. The thought made me anger and sad at the same time. I grimaced and walked over to the nose of the ship. Resting my arms on the ledge, I laid my head against my hands.

I rolled my head over when I heard foot steps. "Sozai, are you injured?"

I shook my head. "No, I just hit my back is all. I'm just thinking about how stupid Zuko is being. He doesn't care enough about the crew's safety. He should start wondering how much longer we're going to follow him blindly."

"We're...?" He asked. I blinked realizing that I had been speaking of myself as well. I decided not to correct what I said, being that I was so upset.

"Uncle, I love Zuko, but he's being to reckless. If not for the fact that Commander Zhao and him were both after the Avatar, he would be in prison."

Uncle Iroh walked up next to me and took in a deep breath. "Sozai, when your brother was banished, why did you decided to come with him?"

I blinked at his question. "Because I love him like I said...and..."

"And?" He persisted.

"I didn't want to be left alone with Azula and my father. There both pretty scary." I admitted. "I felt like Zuko was the only one I had against them, but I suppose that isn't true...why did you decide to come with Zuko?" I asked curiously.

"Because I didn't want to be left alone with Azula and my brother." He said and we laughed together quietly. "No, Prince Zuko is at a hard time in his life where he needs to choose things for himself, even if we don't always agree with them." I frowned. "However, everyone has their own destiny, even if that means separating from the ones we care about."

I looked at him in confusion. "...what do you mean by that?" He turned around and I raised my brow when I realized that we were being covered in smoke. I glanced to our burning engine. "He's using our damaged ship as cover?"

"It would seem so..." Uncle said quietly.

I walked down to the lower deck to see that he was getting a small boat ready. "Your leaving?" I asked, with crossed arms.

He gave me a stiff nod. "The smoke of the ship will hide me until I can get away. By the time Zhao realizes what happened, it will be too late."

"And what if this doesn't work?" I questioned. "The smoke can only cover so much."

"I'll just have to deal with it when it happens." He said turning to a soldier. "Let my uncle know I'm ready to be released." The man nodded and walked out of the room.

"Your being really reckless, you know that right?" He was silent. "Your trespassing into Fire Nation territory and you have a commander that hates you, right on your tail."

"It will all be worth it once the Avatar has been captured." He said simply.

"Argh!" I groaned in frustration. "Fine! Then I'm going too."

"No, it's too danger-"

"Dangerous?" I interrupted. "Are you serious right now? I could have died not that long ago and you didn't even care!"

"I did care! It's just that the Avatar was so close and-"

"And what? Tell me Zuko, if you had to choose between my life and his capture, what would you do?" I asked. We stood there in silence and he pursed his lips.

"Why even ask that, Sozai?"

"Why can't you answer the question?" I walked past him and got into the ship. "I'm going too."

He jumped into the ship as a soldier came back into the area. "We're ready to deploy." My brother nodded and the metal door slowly dropped.

I was met with a large cloud of smoke in my face. I covered my mouth to keep from coughing too loudly. When we were set in the water, I looked up to see Uncle looking down on us. "Uncle keep heading North, Zhao will follow the smoke while I use it as a cover."

I saw his look of disapproval, but he said nothing else. He looked over at me and I wasn't sure what he meant by his expression. Though it felt like he knew my intentions somehow. Then I recalled what he had said to me earlier. 'Even if it means separating from the ones we care about.' Why would he tell me something like that? Was he trying to get a some kind of response? I didn't know and at the moment my questions weren't the main priority. I walked over to the other side of the boat and sat with my back facing away from him.

We were quiet for a long time and I wasn't going to be the one to break the silence. "...Sozai?"

"What?"

"Have you read anything on Roku's temple?" He asked.

I turned my head so that I could see him through my left eye. "Yes."

"...Well can you tell me anything?" He continued awkwardly.

I sighed turning around to him. He was just so desperate. "You learned about it during our tutoring sessions didn't you?"

"That wasn't one of my interests, but I know that you've been reading books about him." He said.

I raised my brow. "Oh, so you have been paying attention to me?" He frowned in response. "Well...there's not much to tell. The island is technically a volcano; inside there is the sages and it is said to be a secret entrance to Roku's memorial. If I had to guess I'd say they'd go there."

"Well where is it?" He persisted.

I shrugged. "I don't know, Zuko. A book can only tell me so much about somewhere I've never been before." He scoffed in irritation, turning around to face the water. "Great talk." I mumbled, leaning my head back against the metal of the ship.

I closed my eyes and listened to the water brushing against our ship. Only a minute later, Zuko spoke. "We're here." He muttered.

I stood up and adjusted my glasses squinting at the island coming into view. It was pretty, but then again I wasn't a fire bender and the lava could prove to be a problem for me. "The temple is on the west side of the island, so we'll need to go around"

He nodded not making any objections or rude comments. The boat turned and we ended up directly in front of the steps. However, there as a few volcanic hot spots in the way. I gulped out of fear. Zuko saw this as we got out of the small ship.

"Get on my back." He ordered. I hesitated for a moment. "I'm not going to throw you into the lava, so just do it, Sozai."

I glared at him before walking over and putting my arms around the back of his neck. He put his arms underneath my legs and he started toward the stairs. "We need to hurry so whatever you do don't let go." I gave a nod and took off blowing the hotspots down so that I didn't get hit. I closed my eyes as he ran and didn't open them until he stopped. We were more than half way up when he let me off.

"Your heavier than I remember." He mumbled as he walked in front of me.

"Well you didn't usually run through lava with me on your back." I answered. "...but thank you, for doing that, I mean."

"Sozai, why did you want to come with me?" He asked, turning his head to me.

I bit my lip. "Well..." I couldn't just out right say I was trying to stop him from capturing the Avatar. "I wanted to see the temple for myself as selfish as that sounds."

"...I am sorry for putting you in danger, Sozai." He said. "I don't want to get you killed. I just need the-"

"Avatar, I know. We've gone over this enough." I interrupted. "Zuko, I know you don't want anyone to die, but what happens if we do?"

"I won't let that happen." He said firmly.

"You can't say that for sure." I whispered. "Your focus is and always will be the Avatar until you capture him, if you capture him."

He opened his mouth to speak when voices were heard around the corner. "Come this way quickly! The Avatar has gotten inside, he has entered the sanctuary!"

I turned to Zuko as he went to reveal himself. I grabbed his arm shaking my head. "Why are you stopping me?"

"Who knows how they'll react to you if you show yourself." I reasoned.

"I am the Prince of the Fire Nation." He countered.

"Yeah, well you're also banished and trespassing. " I saw him visibly wince at my comment. "If you just barge in they might attack you and slow us down. If you follow them, we could find the Avatar sooner." He paused and thought about my explanation.

"Alright, let's follow them." Zuko said taking off without warning. I sighed, I was still out of shape this might end with me having a heart attack. I ran after my brother as fast as I could. I was glad that I might have avoided conflict and hopefully I could prove as some sort of distraction. I paled when I saw the levels of stairs they were running up.

"Oh Spiritual Lion-Turtles." I whimpered before running once again. It took me a while to get up the steps and I felt like I was going to die. By the time I got to the I was crawling on my hands and knees. "Ah! I made it..." I whispered. I slowly looked up to see my brother and Aang struggling against one another. Zuko had Aang's arms pinned behind his back and he tried to break free.

Suddenly the younger boy caught sight of me and I felt conflicted. I wanted to help, but what could I actually do? Get in the middle of it? No, I wasn't able to fight. Before I could make up my mind Aang broke himself free and blew Zuko down the stairs. I fidgeted for a moment, then trotted down the steps to pick him up. We both ran up to see that the door's had been closed.

"Open the doors!" Zuko demanded, as the fire sages helped him to open it. I was relieved to see that they were unsuccessful. "Why won't it open!"

"It must be Roku, he doesn't want to let anyone inside." I said.

They looked at me before my brother walked over to the sage that betrayed them. "Why did you help him? Your loyalty lies with the Fire Nation."

"My loyalty lies with the Avatar. It was our duty and still is." The man said simply. I looked at him with respect. I knew it must have been hard to stay true so someone that had been gone for over one-hundred years. Then there was a clapping in the distance. I frowned only able to think of one person that would mock this kind of situation.

Zhao.

"What a moving and heart-felt performance. I'm sure the Firelord would love to hear why you betrayed him." He said with a smirk.

"Commander Zhao." One of the men said. I rolled my eyes, before looking over to the Watertribe boy and girl. They gave me an expression I could quite make out. I shrugged in response. There wasn't much I could do at this point, but I would think of something.

"And Prince Zuko, you made quite and effort, but your little smoke screen didn't work." Zhao said with a smirk. Zuko glare in response. "Two traitors in one day the Firelord will be pleased...and Princess Sozai, your brother does like dragging you into danger, doesn't he?"

I frowned. "I came on my own and I don't see _anything_ dangerous."

His smirk lessened as he looked me over. "I see."

Creep.

The men grabbed onto Zuko's arms and growled. "Your too late Zhao! The doors are closed and the Avatar is inside."

"That may be true, but sooner or later he will have to come out." He said with a stupid grin. "Lock up the Prince and give him a view, I want him to see me take down the Avatar myself."

"What about the Princess, sir?" A soldier asked.

Zhao looked me over again and snorted. "She is by no means a threat, but we don't want her thrashing around." They went to grab me, but I slapped a hand away. I turned to the commander with scowl.

"My brother may be banished, but I am not. That mean I get to go where I please, because I am a Princess. If you touch me I will report it to my father." I stated coldly. He looked unconvinced. "All it takes is one word, and even it doesn't matter to him, it will get to the people. No one want's a commander who puts their hands on children."

They all stood there silently waiting for the Zhao to give the order, but it never came. "Leave the girl where she is, it wouldn't have matter either way." He said in a mocking tone.

"Your so kind." I spat walking around the soldiers to the Watertribe kids and the apparently traitor fire sage. I sat on the ground beside them with my arms crossed.

"Um..." I looked up to see Katara and Sokka looking at me, along with the sage.

"What?" I asked with a raised bow.

"Why aren't you over there with your people?" Sokka asked.

I glared at my feet. "Their not my people." I said loud enough for them to hear.

"Well I think we could see that, what we meant was why aren't you with your brother?" Katara asked.

"He's the reason we're in the mess to begin with, so he can stay over there." I explained. "I told him this would happen, but nooo don't listen to me. I'm only trying to keep you out of prison!"

Zuko could apparently hear that one. "Sozai-"

"Shut up!" I yelled, pointing my finger at him. We glared at each other from across the room.

"Great relationship you guys have." Sokka joked dryly. Katara frowned at him.

"The best." I said leaning back on my hands. I decided not to say anything else, because the soldiers were starting to look at me. I tapped my feet on the ground and shook my head. It felt like hours when I was sitting there. "How long is he going to be in there?" I mumbled to myself.

"Not much longer, the sun is going down." The fire sage said.

"I see..." I said, standing to my feet as I watched the men getting in there fighting positions.

"When the Avatar comes out take him down." Zhao commanded.

Suddenly the door opened and they fired. Then there was a bright light. My eyes widened when I saw who it was. "Roku." I said with a fascinated expression. He shot fire out and melted the chains around Zuko, Sokka and Katara and the fire sage. I turned to run and Zuko saw me follow after him. When he turned around, I was bumped to the ground and my glasses fell off my face. For a moment I saw Zhao. Anger rushed through me, he pushed me on purpose.

"Ak!" As I tried to move, I yelped in pain when a stone hit my leg. Then I started to panic when the ground started to shake. What was happening? Where was Zuko? Did he leave me? My eyes started to blur with tears. I was suddenly picked up from the ground and my glasses were put back on my face. For a moment I thought it was my brother, however, I was met with bright blue eyes.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" I went blank for a moment before nodding and we all went to run for he stairs, but it was over flowing with lava. We then ran for the gaping hole in the wall. I looked down and gulped. How was I going to get out of here? Then the bison came into view. The others jumped on but I was hesitant.

"Come on!" Aang urged. I took a deep breath and leaped onto the saddle, closing my eyes in the process. I kept them closed until someone patted me on the shoulder. "Hey, you okay now, alright?"

I squinted open my eyes to see that Aang was speaking to me. "Yeah...where are we, Zuko-"

"I'm sorry we couldn't fly back, if we do then they'll try to capture Aang again. That's a risk we can take." Katara said.

" We could drop you off somewhere." Sokka suggested.

"That's a horrible idea." Katara scolded.

I slowly nodded as I was starting to grasp the atmosphere of the situation. I was now on a flying bison with two Watertribe people and the Avatar. I couldn't go home because they would most likely be captured in the process and that's not something I want for them.

"...Then what do I do?" I mumbled out loud.

They looked at me with pity and Aang came and sat next to me. "Hey, you can stay with us. You helped me after all." Aang looked at the other two like he wanted them to speak.

"Yeah, even if you are Fire Nation, and your brother is out to kill us. Your all good with me, so stay a while." Sokka said.

I looked at him with a raised brow. "Um,...okay?"

Katara rolled her eyes. "What my brother is trying to say is you can stay with us. I mean you helped us despite where you from."

"And it's not like we wont run into your brother, he's always after us." Aang said.

I grimaced. "Yeah, sorry about that."

We all stared at each other quietly. "Well I think we should all properly introduce ourselves. I'm Aang." He said with a grin.

"I'm Katara."

"Sokka, but you know that and this is Momo and we're on top of Appa."

I gave a small smile despite how I was feeling. "I'm Sozai." I crawled closer to the front and patted the flying bison. "Thanks for the lift Appa." The bison roar in response.

"I think he likes you." Aang said with smile. I returned the gesture and scooted into a corner.

"I'm glad."

* * *

Zuko sat on his bed with his hands over his face. "She was right behind me, right behind me, what happened? She couldn't have...no, no, no, no..."

 **So yeah...**


	7. Katara is Abusive

**Disclaimer: I will never own.**

I laid my chin against the rim of the saddle as I stared down at the clouds and tops of mountains. I played with the fur on Appa's back. I felt an ache in my chest. Somehow I felt guilty and I didn't know why. I've traveling with the Avatar for about four days now and it was a strange feeling. I didn't really have a lot to talk about considering we were together under some rather awkward circumstances. Then I began to think about my brother. What did he think happened to me? Did he get out safe? Did Zhao cause any more problems?

I leaned my head to the side with a sigh. "Um, what's wrong, Sozai?" I turned to Katara who sat across from me with a smile.

I shook my head. "It's nothing really...just think about my family."

"Oh..." She said awkwardly. "You mean your brother?"

"Yeah, I just hope he got out safe." I stated honestly. I knew talking about their antagonist would be uncomfortable, but he was my brother. Having that aspect in mind I didn't really care if they didn't like him. However, disliking him was understandable. He wasn't really a people person.

"Relax." Sokka said. He was sitting in the front steering Appa. "He's probably alive and trying to think of another way to be evil. Like all Fire Nation..." He trailed off awkwardly. He slowly turned around to look at me.

I held an even expression with my arms crossed. "No, no, no, finish what you were saying."

"Um...like I said he's probably fine, right Aang?...Aang?" Sokka called. We all turned to Aang who was walking back and forth with a worried expression. "Hey, would you stop that? If we hit a bump you'll go flying off! What's wrong with you anyway?"

I didn't know him very well, but I had to agree. He looked rather bothered about something. "It's what Avatar Roku said! How am I suppose to master all four elements before the comet comes?"

I felt bad for him. "Well, how long did it take you to master airbending?"

"Hm, well let's see it only took him one-hundred and twelve years to master airbending. I'm sure you can get it by then." Sokka said with a grin.

"Argh! This is so messed up! I haven't even started waterbending and we're weeks from the North pole!" Aang yelled in frustrations.

Wait, we're going to the North pole? Why didn't anyone say that before now?

"Aang, you need to calm down. If you want, I can teach you some of the waterbending techniques I've learned." Katara offered.

The boy smiled at her gratefully. "You would do that for me?"

She nodded, crawling over to the edge of the saddle. "We'll need to find a good source of water first."

"Maybe we can find a good puddle for you to splash in." Sokka suggested.

"Well..." I started as they all looked over at me. "...we have a lot of mountains at the moment. There are various storage spot for water (or even ice) such as the peak. Not to mention almost 60 percent of all purely freshwater comes from mountains. So we could drink it easily without getting sick as well..." I stopped when I saw them all staring at me blankly.

I cleared my throat. "So a puddle then?"

* * *

"That's a big puddle." Sokka interjected.

I stared with a smile. "It's pretty." Katara and Aang nodded in agreement. Appa flopped down into the water and being that I was the closest, I was splashed.

Great.

I blinked when Aang suddenly ran toward the water with just his underwear on. When did he even take off his clothes? "Don't start without me boy!" When he went to jump in Katara stopped him.

"Hey, don't forget why we're hear." She reminded.

"Oh, right." He said pulling up his pants. Again, when did he even take them off?

"So what are we suppose to do?" Sokka asked. We?

"Hm, you could pick the gunk out of Appa's toes?" Aang suggested.

Sokka and I looked at each other with a raised eye brow. I didn't know them all that well so I decided not to say anything. "So, while you're playing in the water, we have to work hard at getting mud out of your bison's toes?"

Aang smiled. "Mud and bugs."

We paused for a moment before he shrugged. "Okay." Sokka said taking the stick from him.

I waited for a moment before decided there was no harm in manicuring an animals feet. "Alright."

I walked over to the bison as he came out of the water. A slight grimace formed on my face as I looked at it's toes. They were mucky. "You might want to sit this one out."

Looking up at Sokka, I raised my brow. "A Princess, such as yourself, I'm sure you wouldn't dare touch anything dirty." The bison gave a light roar in response. "No offense Appa."

I held an amused expression. "On the contrary, I rather like animals. Besides, I've read about bison from the Air Nation, but didn't I think I would actually get to see one." I walked closer to the bison and put a hand on it's nose. "Plus, Appa is pretty cute, dirty toes or not." I giggled a bit when he licked my face.

Sokka paused for a moment looking me over. "Okay, I guess. Here take this." He gave me a stick of my own. "Get in the water big guy."

Appa trudged back into the lake and rolled over on his back. Sokka climbed onto his stomach and pulled me up with him. "You take the left, I take the right?" I suggested.

"Sounds good to me." He agreed.

As we started, I realized that other than the happy sounds of the bison, it was uncomfortably quiet. Why wouldn't it be? Other than the times that I've helped them escape, I haven't really talked to them. Even the past four days that we've been together, I haven't had all that much to say to them. I internally sighed at this fact. I knew we weren't friends. I was just someone in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus, the only reason they let me accompany them is because they felt guilty to leave me stranded.

"So..." I blinked out of my thought when I realized it was Sokka try to get my attention.

"Yeah?"

"You're a Princess of the Fire Nation." He stated more than asked.

I nodded with a questioning expression. "Yes."

"And I'm sure you know that the Fire Nation is causing chaos for the rest of the world." He continued.

"Of course I do. Where are you going with this?" I asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

"I just want to clear something up that's been on my mind." He said with raised hands. "You've been trying to help us ever since I've met you and on top of that your brother is the one after us. Not to mention, you're also the Princess of a nation that wants the Avatar destroyed. I just want to know why."

"Why I've assisted you?" He nodded. "Well, my brother has his own reasons for what he does." It wasn't any of their business why. "And me? Well to be honest, I never thought what our nation did was particularly right. Frankly speaking, I've always wanted the Avatar to come back, bringing balance and all that good stuff. Don't tell Aang that though, he has enough pressure on him as it is." I said with grin.

"I see." He said, looking me over once again.

"So any more interrogative questions?" I joked.

"It wasn't an interrogation! I just wanted to ask you some questions." He defended.

"Yes, of course. 'What is your reason for living? Why can't you be evil like the rest of your nation'?" I mocked.

"I didn't say that! Why do all woman turn around my words?" He mumbled.

"Relax I was just kidding. I thought you were the jokster type." I reasoned as I brushed some grass off Appa's fur. "You're a bit sensitive"

"What! I'm not sensitive! I thought you people were too busy being evil to kid around." Sokka countered.

I deadpanned. "That was a rather racist statement."

"I didn't mean it that way." He defended.

"Oh, I'm sure you didn't." I mumbled, turning in another direction. "I think I'm done with my side." Moving my legs in front of me, I turned to get off. I adjusted my glasses before my eyes went wide. A gigantic wave was moving in our direction. Perhaps Aang would master water sooner than he thought. I yelped when the water pulled me off the bison and into the water. I held onto my glasses so that they wouldn't get lost. When the water calmed, my head popped to the surface and I took in a deep breath.

Aang looked happy with his attempt at drowning me, while Katara's expression resembled annoyance. "I think that's enough practice for today."

"I'll say, you just practiced all our supply's down the river!" Sokka said.

"Ah, sorry...I'm sure we can replace everything." Aang said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well it was hard enough when you were just an air bender." He complained.

I decided not to comment and trudged back onto the sand. Sitting down on the ground, I took of my boots to let out all of the water. As I did my best to dry off Aang walked over to me. I raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Sorry about getting you all wet." He apologized.

I shrugged. "It would have happened eventually. You always seem to cause me some sort of distress." I smiled.

He blushed. "Yeah sorry, again."

"I'm just kidding." I said, fix my glasses.

"We're probably going to have to fly to a village to get all our supply's back." He said with a guilty tone.

"No." I said simply. This seemed to get his attention. "People live of water and whatever lives in it. From what I've read and my experience there's most likely a village in walking distance from this area." I explained.

Aang smiled at me in amazement and I couldn't imagine why. "You're really smart."

I shook my head. "No, this is just my guess. It would be better if you checked for yourself on your guilder."

"Right! I'll do that!" He said running over to what was left of their supplies.

I stood up as Katara came up beside me. "What's got him so excited?"

"Nothing really. I just told him that there was most likely a village near by that could supply you all with what you need." I explained. "He really wants to fix what he did." I glanced to Sokka who awkwardly walked past me.

"Yeah, he was show off and it went to far." She said. Somehow she sounded more jealous then concerned about their different utilities.

"I'm sure Aang just wanted to impress you." I offered. "You're teaching him right? Students always want to look good in front of their teachers."

"Right, I guess I was looking at it the wrong way." Katara said, smiling at me. I returned her gesture looking up at the sky to see said boy coming straight to us with a smile.

He dropped down and walked up to us. "Sozai, you were right! There's a market only a little way's from here. Thanks for the advice!"

"Don't thank me, you're the one that found it." I said, patting him on the shoulder. "If it were me I'd still be wondering the forest."

"Well let's get going." Sokka said. "We have the money that King Bumi gave us, so we'll be able to pay for it."

"King Bumi?" I repeated. "The King of Omashu?"

"Yep! He's one of my oldest friends!" Aang interjected.

"Literally." Sokka added.

"Well alright then." I said as we started toward the market.

* * *

It was strange traveling a market without my brother or uncle. Uncle Iroh would usually by unnecessary object which Zuko in turn would get overly aggravated. At the time it was annoying, but right now I missed the feeling. I frowned at my feet with a heavy lump of sadness in my chest. I didn't like what Zuko was doing, but that didn't mean that I wouldn't miss him terribly if he wasn't around. He must think that something happened to me. The guilt was starting to hurt.

"I guess we're done in here...um, Sozai?" I blinked before I realized that my eyes were starting to water. It was Sokka.

I lifted my glasses and rubbed my eyes furiously. "Yeah, what is it?" I sniffed quickly, walking to the corner of the store. He followed behind me.

"Are you crying?" He asked hesitantly. We had a harsh discussion earlier on top of the fact that we were barely even acquaintances. This made a fairly awkward conversation.

"No, what would give you that idea." I snapped before I realized how I sounded. "Geez, I'm such a rude person. I can see why you said what you did..."

"Yes, well, no...I was pretty harsh with what I said. I can understand. I mean all you've done is help and I was still suspicious of you." He said rubbing his neck.

"That's understandable. We're not the most reasonable nation, I suppose." I said, shuffling for a moment. "So...are we good?"

"Yeah." He held out his hand. I peered down at it with a questioning look. "It's a sign of our...agreement? Friendship? Whatever, I don't know."

I smirked, taking hold of his hand with a firm shake. "Sure, our agreement of whatever."

"Glad we understand each other." He grinned with a nod.

"Understand what?" Katara asked,walking up to us with Aang. She stared at us when she saw that we were holding hands.

I pulled mine away casually. "Apparently it's our agreement of whatever."

She paused for a moment before repeating. "What?"

"It's nothing." Sokka said. "So I think we have everything, but we still have three copper pieces left over."

"Actually two." Aang spoke, pulling out a whistle that looked like a flying bison. "I spent one of this awesome new whistle." He took a deep breath and blew. I went to cover my ears, but no sound was heard.

"It doesn't even work." Sokka said. I glanced to Momo who looked irritated with Aang. "See even Momo thinks it's a piece of junk."

"Aang, I'll hold the money from now on." Katara said holding out her hand. Said boy looked down with a frown as he handed over the money. "So is there anything else that we need?"

"Well I am kind of hungry." Her brother said "Maybe we can stock up on some cheap food."

"Markets usually has reasonably priced fish and fruits." I piped. "Perhaps we could check there?"

"That's a good idea." Aang said with smile. "You know, you're kind of like one of the team."

"One of the team..." I muttered as they started to walk ahead of me.

"You coming?" Sokka called. I nodded as I jogged to catch up to them.

* * *

When we arrived at the front of the market. I looked around to see a ship in the front of the bay with a man yelling. I couldn't quite understand what he was saying until we were directly in front of the ship. "We accept all so come on by- you there!" The Earth Kingdom male said as he ran up to us. "You all look like world traveling types! Perhaps I could interest you in some exotic curios?"

"Sure!" Aang paused, turning to me. "What are curios?"

Why did he automatically assume I knew? "It's a rare, unusual, or intriguing object." I explained.

"Ooooh, do you have any of those?" Aang asked.

"Yep, lots of 'em." The man said, taking hold of the boy shoulder and leading him inside.

We followed after him onto the ship and somehow I felt uneasy. I decided to keep the feeling to myself. On the ship, there was several interesting artifacts. "Look at that." Katara mumbled as she pointed to a statue with red eyes.

"Yeah, I know. It's kind of creepy." I whispered, turning to a shelf stocked with books. My eyes lightened with excitement. "Look at all the books!" I squealed, almost skipping over to the shelf.

"Pfft.." I heard from beside me. Sokka was grinning at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, you're just kind of a nerd." He said not unkindly, of course.

I shrugged. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Before I could even touch them, a man came out with a large pirate like hat and a bird on his shoulder. "What a fine specimen of leemer you have there. I'd pay a high price for that, interested in bartering?" Alright, he's creepy.

"Momo isn't for sale." Aang said, hiding the leemer away under his arm.

Katara walked over to a box with a scroll in each section. She opened it and it had various waterbending moves inside. "Look Aang it's a waterbending scroll!"

"Where did you get that?" The younger boy asked.

Suddenly, the man came over and snatched up he scroll off the table. "Let's just say I got it from up North at a reasonable price, free."

"Wait a minute." Sokka said holding his chin. "Sea loving traders with suspiciously priced merchandise and pet reptile birds! You guys are pirates!"

"We prefer to think of ourselves as high risk traders." The Earth Kingdom man said.

No, their totally pirates all the way.

"So, uh, how much for the _traded_ scroll?" Katara asked with a smirk.

"We already have a buyer. A nobleman from the Earth Kingdom, unless you have 200 gold pieces on you right now." The man said.

"I know how to deal with these guys, Katara. Pirates love to haggle." Aang stated with a confident smile. She gave him the money as he walked back up to the pirtate. "How about two copper pieces, huh, huh?" The man laughed in his face.

"Aang, can we get out of here?" Katara suddenly said. "I feel like we're getting weird looks."

I furrowed my brow. Weird looks? Besides us, there was only like two other people in here. We decided to leave and as we walked off the ship the older girl kept glancing back like she was guilty. I frowned. "Katara what was that all about?" Aang asked.

"Yeah!" Sokka said. "I just about to brows through their boomerang collection."

"And you call me a nerd." I piped as he stuck out his tongue at me.

"I'll just feel a lot better once we get away from here." She said.

"Hey you get back here!" Someone said.

"Well, well, looks like they've come to their senses." Aang said with a proud smile.

Various pirates jumped off the ship with the look of killing intentions. I doubted they wanted to bargain for mear two copper pieces. "I don't think they want to trade!" Katara yelled as they turned to run.

Aww, more running! I groaned out loud when we took off. I'm horrible at moving like a normal person. We turned the corner and I thought my lungs were going to burst. I was slowly falling behind when a man with a cart full of cabbages was blocking the road. I did my best not to hit it, when Aang knocked over the entire thing and blew it into the pirates.

"My cabbages!" The man screamed in horror.

"Sorry!" I yelled breathlessly. When I thought we were home free, three more pirates jumped in front of us. "Oh come _on_!" We turned around and suddenly there was a dead end.

"Who wants to taste my blade first?" The Earth Kindom man said.

"No thanks!" Aang said, throwing a gust of wind at the men. He opened his glider. "Hang on guys!"

"I thought we were running away from the pirates!" Katara yelled in fear. She and Sokka held on to the back, when I instinctively grabbed onto each of there ankles as we went into the air.

"This a horrible experience!" I yelled in terror. I kept my eyes closed so that I didn't faint in the processes of trying to escape.

When we finally landed back at our camp. I took a deep breath and hugged the ground. "I'm not dead."

"I use to kind of look up to pirates, but those guys are terrible." Aang said as he closed his glider.

"I know." Katara said with a mischievous smirk. "That's why I took this." She pulled out the waterbending scroll that was on the pirates ship.

"No wonder they all most hacked us up! You stole their scroll!" Sokka piped with a frown.

"I prefer to think of it as high risk trading." She smirked.

Aang laughed. "Good one Katara."

"No, not a good one." I said as she looked to me. "Not only do you have my brother after you, but also some revenge thirsty pirates."

"Sozai, where do you think they got it from? A waterbender." She said.

"That's not the point." Sokka added. "You put all of our lives in danger today over some stupid splashes."

She looked between us with a frown. "Why are you ganging up on me? These are real waterbending moves! You know how Aang needs to learn waterbending."

"Whatever." He said walking away and sitting on a rock.

"Look, I'm not saying Aang doesn't need to learn waterbending, because it's important. However, speaking from experience...just be prepared for the consequences." I said giving Aang an earnest look before sitting down next to the water.

"So what happened?" I looked up to Sokka with a raised brow. "When you took something without asking."

"Oh." I grimaced. "I was bout maybe six or seven and I couldn't find my shoes. I really wanted to go outside, but I wasn't aloud to go bare foot. So I decided to go borrow my sisters. When I came back in from the turtle duck pond, my sister was there and she was mad. I gave back them immediately, but that wasn't good enough, she lit my favorite book on fire. It was so upsetting, my uncle gave me that book."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah a twin actually. We don't get along though."

"I can relate." He said in a dry tone.

"I'm actually kind of jealous of the relationship you have with your sister." I said.

"Really?" I nodded. "If you say so."

Suddenly Katara slapped herself in the forehead with water and Sokka laughed. She glared at him. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, but you deserved that. Aang she's only interested in teaching herself."

"No! Aang will get his turn once I have this move down." Katara said in a frustrated voice. She attempted it once more and my eyes widened when I his square in the cheek.

"AHH SPIRITUAL LION TURTLES! WHY!" I cradled my cheek in pain.

"Arh! Why can't I get this!" She yelled in frustration.

"Who cares! Let's talk about why you smacked me in my cheek with water!" I snapped with a glare.

"You'll get it." Aang said whipping up water and properly doing the technique. "You just have to-"

"Would you just shut your air hole? Believe or not your infinite wisdom get a little old sometimes! Why don't we just throw away the scroll since you're so naturally gifted!"

I frowned. "What?" She asked. She turned back to him when she saw his hurt expression. Katara gasped. "Oh my gosh Aang, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. Take the scroll, I don't want anything to do with it anymore."

"It's okay Katara."

"What about Sozai? You hit her in the face." Sokka said.

"No, it's fine. I see where I stand." I rubbed my cheek.

"I'm sorry Sozai." She said with guilty expression.

I sighed. "It's fine, I would probably be frustrated too." We smiled at each other.

Sokka spoke again. "And what about me? There was that one time-"

"No more apologies." Katara snapped.

Later that night when everyone was asleep I opened my eyes when I thought I heard Katara. I shifted a bit when she started to leave the camp with the scroll in her hand. I narrowed my eyes. So she couldn't stay away? I contemplated whether or not I should go back to sleep. What if the pirates go after her? What if she's kidnapped or worse? I sighed. I would have to go keep watch.

I pulled myself out of a sleeping bag and followed after her trail. When I finally caught up to her, she was practicing moves out of the scroll. "Why can't I get it!"

I moved out of the trees with a frown. "Maybe because you're doing the wrong thing."

She jumped with a small yelp. "Sozai!...you scared me."

"Yeah, it would have been worse if the pirates scared you." I countered. "It dangerous out here and I thought you weren't going to mess with the scroll anymore?"

"I wasn't, but..." She wasn't sure what to say.

Suddenly there was a loud screeching of metal pulling onto the sand. Katara and I looked at each other before we looked through the bushes. "It's a boat."

Then a pirate jumped out to grab Katara. "No let me go!" She struggled.

"Get off her!" I yelled, pulling on his arm before he kicked me back. I almost fell when someone held me up.

"Sozai?" A broken voice called.

I blinked when I realized it was my brother. He looked tired and full of guilt. "Zuko?"

 **Kaaayyy that's it for now! See ya in the next chapter!**


	8. Sokka is a Warrior (Apparently)

**If you've been sticking with the story, I'd like to thank you. Also all the follows, favorites and reviewers deserve a big thank you as well! Merry Christmas and a Happy new year!**

 **Disclaimer: I never owned.**

I looked over my brother and stared at him for a moment. Was he really here right now? I subtly poked him in the chest, before blinking up at his confused and relieved expression. He seemed to be searching my persona as well. Despite the fact that he was trying to kidnap my newly found friend, I was happy.

"Zuko?" I called, waiting for him to say something.

He blinked out of his daze before he cleared his throat. "Tie up the girl and wait for my word." He told the pirate that restricted Katara. She looked to me with desperate eyes. 'Help me!' They said. However, what could I really do right now? Jump the muscle bound man and force him to release her? I wasn't any where near physically adequate, so that was a no. What did she expect out of me? Simply ask Zuko to let her go?

That was like asking the Spiritual Lion Turtles for firebending. It was never going to happen. Even if he was my brother, there were more important things to him.

I pursed my lips at the thought. What could I do? Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted. "Sozai, we need to talk, now." He stated, before I could get a word in. Zuko pulled me further into the forest, away from prying ears. When we finally stopped, his back was turned to me. I shuffled uncomfortably. We stood there for what felt like hours. When was he going to say something?

It seemed like I would have to start the conversation myself. "Hi...Zuko, um, how have you and Uncle been?" Well that wasn't a stupid question at all. I jumped when he suddenly turned around with anger in his expression.

"How have _I_ been? HOW have I been?! Are you kidding me with that right now?" He yelled, with flames slightly lighting in is hands.

I backed away with caution. "What's your problem! You weren't saying anything so that meant I had to, right? There's no need to yell at me!" I hypocritically yelled back.

"My problem?" He muttered, taking a step toward me. I automatically took a step back. An angry Zuko is one you stay away from. "My problem is for almost a week, I thought you were de-...ad." His voice cracked at 'dead'. Zuko bit his lip and turned away from me, pacing back and forth.

He crossed his arms and kept his gaze away from me as he continued. "I...Uncle said fate would take it's course, but that didn't mean anything! You were dead...all because I couldn't look after you."

I rubbed my arm at the tenseness of the situation. "Hey...would you quit pacing, you know I hate when you do that." I smiled lightly, when he paused. Zuko turned around to me and looked me over with a sigh of frustration.

"Unbelievable, even in a life or death situation involving _you_ , you still want to tell me what to do." He said, crossing his arms with a frown. Though I knew he was starting to calm down.

Chuckling softly, I took a step toward him. "Also while you're at it, stop frowning , you'll wrinkle early."

"Hm, like I care." The frown was slowly decreasing from his facial features.

" _And_ crossing your arms. It makes you look like a grumpy person." I took another step toward him. "Not that you aren't one already."

He rolled his eye, but uncrossed his arms. "Ha, ha."

"I'm hilarious, right?" I asked with a tilt in my head, grinning up at him. Now I was directly in front of him. "Should we hug like I heard normal families do?" He raised his brow. "I'll take that as a yes."

I took him off guard when I slipped my arms around his waist and tightly hugged him. My face was buried in his chest and I smiled when he hesitantly hugged me back. "This is nice." I said.

"Hmm...I guess..." He mumbled, though he hadn't let me go.

I smirked. "Yeah, I love you too." When we finally released each other, he looked like he wanted to say something else. "What is it?"

"How did you escape the temple?" Zuko asked.

"The Avatar, and his friends." I stated. "I thought I was done for, but they saved me and I've been with them. "

"I see." He said slowly. Zuko seemed to be processing what I had told him. Did this mean he going to reconsider capture Katara? I felt hopeful that he might actually be thinking about it. I took this as a chance to say what I had been thinking earlier. Perhaps I could do something to help.

"Zuko..." I said. His eyes peered down to me. "The Avatar and his friends...their good people you-"

"Don't." He snapped. "Don't do this right now."

"But they are! Zuko, you know I'd do anything for you, but this doesn't feel right anymore...I don't think I can do this..." I reluctantly admitted. Of course, it always felt wrong, but I didn't want him to know that.

He growled in frustration. "This doesn't feel right? What about my honor? What about dad accepting me? What about getting back home! None of that feels right either?"

The words got caught in my throat. "I-I..." He turned away from me as if he was betrayed. "Zuko, wait! I love you, you know that right?"

"Not enough to pick my side." He muttered, looking visibly upset.

"I _am_ on your side." I whispered pitifully. "I just don't want to stand by in the Avatar's capture..."

He frowned down at me as I fiddled with my glasses. He blinked as if he realized something. "Then let me ask you a question."

"Yes?" I mumbled.

"Have you felt this way the whole time?" He asked. "You always were one to speak badly about father and everything he stood for."

"I...I don't know, I think so." I huffed. "BUT that doesn't mean-"

"Then all those times you asked to come with me, were you aiding the Avatar?" Zuko asked with hard expression, though he sounded hurt as well. I chewed on my lip nervously. "Sozai, answer me!"

I jumped. "Yes, okay! I've been helping the Avatar any way I could! Are you happy now?"

"No I'm not, how could you? My own sister...you're no better than Azula." He barked.

"Oh don't even go there with me, Zuko. Haven't you been listening to me, unlike Azula I actually really care about you." I said, putting out a hand to his shoulder. "Zuko please-" He pushed my hand away.

"You've betrayed me." He suddenly grabbed my wrist.

"What are you doing?" I asked with an incredulous expression. I pulled away but he only tightened his grip. "Let me go!"

"You betrayed my trust, but I promised that I would protect you." My brother slowly turned and started dragging me back to the front of the woods. I struggled walk at his pace.

"So what, I'm your prisoner now or something?" I asked with disbelief. "Zuko, UGH!" Yelling and beating on his arm didn't seem to affect him at all. We soon were back to Katara, who was tied to a tree. Zuko led me to a tree of my own and constricted me as well. I shifted uncomfortably against the bark with a scowl.

"You're being ridiculous! You don't have to do this, Zuko! Are you listening?" I persisted. I groaned in aggravation when he ignored me, walking up to the angry Watertribe girl.

"Tell me where the Avatar is." Zuko said turning to Katara.

"Go jump in the river!" She snapped.

He looked irritated for a moment before walking up to her with a smile. "Try to understand, I'm trying to restore something I've lost, my honor. Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost." He held up a necklace to her neck and I furrowed my brow.

"My necklace! How did you get that!" She questioned with suspicious anger.

"Yeah, I don't remember us ever finding that?" I added with a frown.

"And it's a good thing I didn't, obviously." Zuko said with a glare.

"Hm." I huffed.

" I didn't steal it. " He stated simply. "Tell me where he is."

"No!" Katara snapped.

Zuko turned his eyes to me and I narrowed mine. "Sozai?" He asked as if I would tell him after he tied me up to a tree. I wasn't going to anyway.

"Sorry Zuzu, I'm an un-loyal prisoner remember?" I taunted and he huffed at me in anger. Probably more about the nickname than anything else.

"Enough of this necklace garbage; you promised us a scroll." The pirate captain interrupted with a hard glare.

My brother pulled out the scroll, throwing it from hand to hand before he led it over a flame. "I wonder how much this is worth?" He studied their distressed expression. "Apparently a lot. You help me find the Avatar and you'll get your scroll back. Search the woods for the boy."

"Fine." The man said with a disgruntle demeanor. When they began to disburse, I turned to Katara.

"Why did your stupid jerk brother tie you up too?" Ignored all the insults about Zuko because frankly, the feeling was mutual at the moment.

I sighed in frustration. "I'm wondering the same thing...I told him I didn't want to help capture the Avatar anymore. He didn't take it very well..."

"He's insane! Sorry...actually no I'm not." Katara said in frustration and sighed. "Well I am, this is all my fault. If I had just left the scroll alone..."

"Hey, there's no point in getting down on yourself now, it's already been done. You can't take it back so we can only move on from here." I stated with a nod. I felt like I was trying to encourage myself as well.

Katara looked me over before nodding slowly. "Right...I just - Aang and Sokka are probably being taken right now. "

"It's only because Zuko is forcing them." I said, and then an idea came to mind. I smirked.

This was going to be good.

"You seem quite content, despite being tied to a tree." I turned when I saw Uncle standing there with a even expression.

"Uncle!" I said before frowning. "You don't seem surprised that I'm alive or that I've been captured, by Zuko."

"I was worried about you, there's no question about that. However, I knew fate needed to take it's course." He said. "And here you are."

"Yep, everything happened so that I might one day be restricted to a hunker of wood, lovely." I stated dryly.

"Perhaps." He said. My eye twitched at his agreement to my sarcasm. "Nevertheless, you're here now."

"Uncle...do you think you could subtly just loosen these ropes-"

"Hey, Uncle!" Zuko interrupted. "Don't talk to her, as of this moment she is a prisoner." He proclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come off it Zuko, I haven't seen Uncle in four days. I think I'll take my chances with your over baring authority."

Said boy frowned in response, but instead of responding, he walked away. I stuck out my tongue at his turned back. "He was worried to death about you these passed few days, Sozai." Uncle assured.

"If that's so, then why did he search for the Avatar right away?" I asked.

"That's the only thing he could think of to do. Mourning would have made the time so much more painful for him."

"So he didn't want to feel the loss..." I mumbled, with guilt rising in me. If the circumstances were reversed, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. "Uncle? Just...just go check on him and don't tell him I wanted you to do that! I'm still mad at him!"

He gave a small smile. "Alright." The older man walked toward the direction Zuko headed.

"Sozai..." I turned my attention to Katara. "Your family is so strange."

I raised my brow. "And Sokka is normal?"

"Point taken." She mumbled.

"Anyway, I have an idea." I whispered. "I think we can use the pirates in our favor."

"How do we do that?" Katara asked with a curious expression.

"Well, my brother and the pirates are already at odds, so I was thinking that-" I stopped short when I spotted Aang and Sokka being pushed through the trees with their hands tied.

"We got them." The pirate said grouchily. "Now give us what you owe."

Zuko circled around, taking out the scroll at he looked Aang over. "Nice work."

"Guys I'm so sorry!" Katara cried. "This is all my fault."

"No Katara, it isn't." Aang comforted.

"Yeah, it kind of is." Uncle stated.

"Uncle!" I scolded. Despite myself thinking the same thing.

"Give me the boy." Zuko said with a glare.

"Like I said, give us the scroll." The captain demanded.

"Your really going to trade a stupid piece of paper over the Avatar?" Sokka asked. I began to grin as I realized what the he was doing. It seemed as though he had the same idea as I did.

"Don't listen to him, he's trying to put us against each other!" Zuko yelled.

"Your friend is the Avatar?" The captain questioned, looking over at the boy.

"Oh yeah." I added, with a sly smirk and a tilt in my head "He's the Avatar, not to mention he'd fair for a high price on any underground market. Didn't you hear? The _Fire Lord_ wants him, which means he's important."

"Urgh! Sozai shut your mouth!" Zuko yelled in frustration.

"Yeah, Sozai...you really should." Aang said with concerned eyes.

"The Fire Lord you say?" Sokka said grinning over at me. He knew what I was doing. "They would be set for life with the money he'd pay!"

"Indeed they would." I agreed. I couldn't contain my glee when the pirate captain spoke.

"Forget the scroll, we can buy a hundred with the money we'd get for the kid." They turned to walk away.

"Uh oh brother, looks like there's no deal after all." I said with an innocent smile.

Zuko glared in response. "You'll regret this!" He shot fire out at the pirates and they retaliated. Soon it became an all out brawl and I was still trapped to a tree. I blinked when Momo, dropped down and chewed away at Katara's ropes. She looked to me and hesitated only for a moment before setting me free as well.

"We have to get out of here!" She said with a panic in her tone. We? So she still wanted me to come with them? I pursed my lips. If I stayed with my brother then I would definitely be his prisoner.

I looked up at her with a determined nod. "Alright..." I looked around until I spotted the pirates ship. "Follow me!" I began running towards the boat and when I got close I began to push on the nose of the ship. "Augh, Katara help me push!"

We both began to push as hard as we could, but it wouldn't move. I groaned in frustration and kicked the ship with my foot. "It won't move." Katara said.

I spun around when Sokka and Aang came running towards us. "You guys!" Sokka yelled.

"We need help moving this boat!" Katara exclaimed. The four of us attempted once more to move the ship, but it was much to big for us. I sighed.

"It's going to take a dozen rhinos to move this thing!" Sokka cried.

"A dozen rhinos or two waterbenders?" Aang asked with a smile. We all peered over at Katara who held nervous and wide eyes.

"Alright." She muttered. They began to move the water back and forth until the boat started to pull back from the sand.

"Everybody in!" Sokka demanded.

"Everyone?" I questioned. He paused and looked at me.

"Yeah come on." He pushed me towards the boat and Aang pulled me up on the ladder, soon after came Katara and then Sokka. Said boy ran up to the steering wheel and turned the boat to travel down the stream. I felt relieved until I saw the pirates riding our tail.

Aang and I gave each other worried looks, before he turned around. "Sokka can't you make this thing go any faster, their gaining on us!"

"I don't know how, this isn't a Watertribe ship." The boy said, struggling to understand the mechanics.

Aang turned to me. "Sozai do you know anything about ships?"

I furrowed my brow. "Only things I've read. I've never steered an actual boat before, but I'll see what I can do." I ran toward the front of the boat. "Sokka do you ak-" I yelped when the pirates began jumping onto the ship. I paled when one of the men towered over me and grabbed my shoulder. He attempted to pick me up before I kicked him between the legs. His eyes bulged and I took that as a sign to run.

"Get back here girl!" I skidded around a pole, running past Katara as she lifted water and whipped my attacker off the boat.

"Hey, you did the water whip!" Aang said with a smile.

She returned the gesture peered up at him. "I couldn't have done it without your help."

"Hey! Could you two stop congratulating each other and help me out!" Sokka yelled, before he was throwing into the sail.

"Sokka!" I called, jogging towards where they threw him. However, the Earth Kingdom male grabbed my wrist and I winced in pain. "Let me go!" I attempted to kick him in his crotch, but he took hold of my leg and dropped me to the ground. Suddenly Aang jumped in front of me and airbended them both off the ship.

"You okay?" He asked, pulling me to my feet.

I nodded. "I'm fine, but we should-" I stopped short when I saw a water fall coming into view. "Oh no..."Aang turned around and looked over at the death trap we were headed toward.

Suddenly, a pirate charged after us. I immediately hid behind Aang expecting him to do something. However, it seemed as though he had something else in mind. Aang pulled out his whistle shaped like Appa and blew, but there was no sound to be heard. My eye twitched. What as that?

The pirate exchanged a brief expression of understand before he lunged at me. I yelped, waiting for the man to grab me, but it never came. Sokka knocked him in the back of the head with the bottom of his boomerang. "What are you doing?! This is no time for flute practice!"

We ran to the end of the boat and I gulped. "We should do something and fast!"

"We can stop if we bend the water!" Katara blurted. "Push and pull together!"

They began to waterbend I started to smile when the boat slowly shifted. "Yes we're doing it! We stopped the boat!" Katara cheered.

"Yeah, but now we have another problem!" Sokka said. My smile quickly diminished when I saw Zuko's empty ship come at us with full speed. There was no way to avoid it and we were rammed in the side, us off the waterfall.

I screamed at the top of my lungs with terror over flowing inside me. The water was getting closer and closer. I closed my eyes, before we abruptly landed on Appa with a "ouff!"

"I knew this whistle would come in handy." Aang said with a smile. "Thanks Appa."

"Yeah, Appa we really owe you one." Sokka said.

I crawled the front of the bison and kissed the top of his head. "Appa we haven't known each other long, but I think I love you." I smiled when he yapped kindly in response

* * *

Zuko looked up at the sky in anger and confused hurt. Sozai had ran away with the Avatar and his comrades. She left him, again. She betrayed him.

"My boat, the Avatar and Sozai are all gone!" He yelled in fury. "How could she just up and leave like that!" Translation: how could she leave me?

"Well...in her defense you were going to keep her as a prisoner. I don't think she liked that idea very much." Uncle Iroh said.

"How you be so calm Uncle? Just four days ago, I thought she was dead, _dead_. Then to find out she was alive! Now's she run away with the only thing in the way of me getting home! She said she was on my side, that was lie." Zuko spat with a hard tone, but his expression said other wise. His feelings were hurt.

"If she's traveling with the Avatar, we'll see her again." Iroh pointed out.

Zuko paused as she started to turned around. "Once father gets word of what Sozai has done, she'll be known as traitor to the Fire Nation. They'll want her as a prisoner."

"Or worse." Iroh said. "Your father isn't known for being merciful even to his own children."

That struck a cord in Zuko. Suddenly all the anger he was feeling toward his sister shifted to worry. Sozai was defenseless bookworm, with no athletic ability what so ever. She could barely walk a mile much less hold her own in a it came down to it, she need him.

Not to mention he promised mother he would protect her.

The Prince pursed his lips. "We're getting Sozai and the Avatar. Whether she likes it or not."

* * *

"Aang I owe you an apology." Katara said, keep her gaze at her hands. "You were just so naturally good at water bending; I became competitive and put us all in danger. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Aang said with a smile.

"Beside who needs that stupid scroll anyway."

"Is that really how you feel?" Sokka asked with a sly smile, taking the scroll from his bag.

"The scroll!" She said with bright eyes.

Sokka put up his hand. "First what did you learn?"

"That stealing is wrong." Katara said. Sokka smiled, handing over the scroll. "Unless it's from pirates." She added with a smirk.

I grinned as Aang laughed. "Good one Katara."

"So...Sozai are you alright?" I blinked at the Watertribe girl. "I mean with betraying your family. I know that must have been hard."

I crossed my legs and adjusted my glasses. "Well...seeing how my brother reacted made me feel...well, that doesn't matter. I just think helping you guys was the right thing to do." Katara looked at me with a sympathetic expression. "Besides, Appa won me over with his cuteness." I patted his head with a smile.

"I'm glad you decided to stay." Aang said. "Your smart and we need someone like you on our team."

"Hey, I'm smart!" Sokka piped.

"Mmm..."

"I am!" He pouted. I laughed, before remembering something.

"Sokka, are you in pain anywhere?" I asked. "That must have hurt being thrown like that."

"Pfff, I'm fine. I'm a warrior so I didn't even feel it."Sokka flexed his arms to prove his point.

Katara raise her brow in amusement. "A warrior huh?" She poked him in the back and he winced. "See you are hurt, why didn't you say anything."

"It's nothing to fuss about." He said waving her off.

"You shouldn't strain yourself anymore than you have to." I said adjusting my glasses. "The spine becomes less stab when injured. If you push yourself to far the damage can become permanent..." I trailed off when I realized they were staring at me. "So...you should take care...of yourself..."

Now I'm embarrassed for being a nerd.

Aang suddenly smiled. "See, what did I tell you guys? She's smart." Katara and Sokka agreed with a grin.

I blinked at their response before smiling shyly. "Thanks for letting me join."

 **Review cause it's Christmas and if you don't celebrate, then do it just because.**


	9. Jet likes to stare and whisper

**Disclaimer: I don't own.**

I laid my head back against Appa's side, looking up at the Autumn leaves. They were bright and red like fire. That was the only thing I really appreciated about the Fire Nation; they had the nicest color. At the moment, we were taking a break from traveling toward the North Pole. We were all tired and Appa needed a break.

I yawned as I stretched out my legs. "This was a good place to set up camp."

Katara nodded in agreement as she sat down beside me."Yeah, it's pretty calm and quiet. It's a nice change from the usual."

I smiled. "It's got pretty trees too."

"Yeah nice trees, but we'll have to start moving again soon." Sokka said.

I groaned. "Awe, come on Sokka. Can't we enjoy the quiet for now at least?"

"Look I enjoy momentary safety just as much as the next guy, but that's just it. We won't be safe for long. Who knows who else is in this forest besides us. Frankly, I'd rather not take my chances fighting Fire Nation soldiers when I don't have to." Sokka continued.

I sighed. "Alright, you win."

"Hey...where's Momo?" Aang suddenly asked. We searched our surroundings not to find a single trace of him.

"He was just here a minute ago." Katara piped, her eyes searched the trees.

"Well if we're going to leave so abruptly, we can't go without him, now can we?" My eyes glanced over to the Watertribe boy.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh quit your pouting, Sozai."

I grumbled underneath my breath as we began to search the woods for Momo. This really was a pretty forest and I appreciated the peaceful atmosphere it gave off. Suddenly, loud noises could be heard not that far from where we stood. I peered at the others before we ran towards the sounds of distress. My eyes spotted three cages, one with Momo inside.

"I got you buddy!" Aang said, jumping up and cutting the rope to set the lemeer free.

Sokka cut down the other to cages with his boomerang and the monkey's ran away. He squatted down next to the metal contraptions and looked it over. "These are Fire Nation traps, which means it isn't safe here. We'd better pack up."

"I guess you were right." I mumbled.

He grinned at me. "Yeah, which means you should stop pouting and listen to me more often."

I narrowed my eyes playfully before poking him in the forehead. "Don't get smart Mister." He blinked before standing up and we turned to head back toward our camp.

When we got back we started to pack up our sleeping bags and put them back onto Appa. "Stop, no flying this time." Sokka said.

"What? Why wouldn't we fly?" Aang asked with a incredulous tone.

"Think about it, how does Prince Zuko and the Fire Natio keep finding us? It's because of Appa, he's too noticeable." He explained.

"What? Appa is not too noticeable." Katara argued. I was about to agree before I paused. Maybe he was right.

"Look I know you guy's want to fly, but my instincts are telling me we should walk." Sokka said.

"Wait...who made you the boss?" Katara asked with a raised brow.

"I'm not the boss, I'm the leader. "

She laughed. "You're the leader? Your voice still cracks!" I chuckled a bit at this and he sent me a glare.

"I'm the oldest and I'm a warrior, so I'm the leader." Sokka attempted to deepen his voice at the end, making me laugh even harder. "Quiet Sozai!"

"Well if anyone should be the leader, shouldn't it be Aang?" I suggested. "Being the savior of the world and everything is kind of important."

"Aang? He's just a goofy kid." He countered.

Said boy smiled in agreement. "Yeah, he's right."

"Oh come on, you aren't that much older than he is." I crossed my arms. "You probably aren't that much older than me."

"So what? Do you want to be the leader?" He asked throwing his hands in the air.

" _No_. I'm just saying your arguments aren't really relevant, considering we're all around the same age." I countered cocking my hip to the side.

"I don't get why boys fight about being leader anyway. I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl." Katara piped with a smirk between us.

Realizing how close we were standing, I backed up. "You haven't kissed a girl before?"

"What! I've kissed a girl! You...just haven't met her!" Sokka explained.

"Who, Gran-gran? I've meet Gran-gran." Katara teased.

"No, not Gran-gran! Look it doesn't matter, my instincts tell me it's better to travel on foot. Good leaders have to make wise decisions."

Katara glanced at me. "Okay, _wise_ leader."

"We'll trust your instincts." I said adjusting my glasses.

"Who knows walking might be fun!" Aang said with a smile.

* * *

I could tell Aang was irritated with the idea of walking considering we had been traveling on foot for about an hour now. Katara had begun to mock Sokka along the way, which was normal sibling behavior. After all, I did the same thing with my brother. I sighed at the thought of him and my Uncle. Technically speaking, I had betrayed them both to aid the Avatar on his journey. What help I could provide I wasn't exactly sure, but I would do my best in anyway I could. However, at the moment my feet were aching and my back was in pain from walking so much.

I glanced to Sokka who was determined not to complain. Considering he had forced us to walk to begin with. "So...was it, the girl from Kyoshi Island?"

The boy turned to me with a raises brow. "Huh?"

"The girl you kissed?" I continued casually. "Was it the girl from Kyoshi Island?"

He blinked at me. "Oh...I never got to...I-I mean that's none of your business." He looked flustered as he looked away.

"Mm, okay." I said before facing forward. "Just trying to have a conversation."

"And you couldn't think of anything else?" He asked with a skeptical expression.

"Well at least I'm trying. You're over here trying to be Mr. Leader and I'm bored of the silence." I stated simply. "Besides a topic such as that is pretty interesting."

"Well what about you? Have you kissed anyone before?" He countered.

"Nope." I said, pulling on the straps of my pack. Sokka looked like he wanted to ask something else, but Aang interrupted his train of thought.

"Walking stinks! How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?"

"I don't know Aang why don't you try asking Sokka's instincts they seem to know _everything_." Katara said. I muffled a short laugh in my palm.

"Haha, very fun." Sokka dryly said, giving me a glare.

"I'm tired of carrying this pack." Aang complained.

"You know who you should ask to carry it, Sokka's instincts!" Katara stated mockingly bright.

"Hey, that's a great idea, Sokka's instincts-"

"Okay, okay!" He yelled. "Look guys I'm tired too, but the important thing is we're safe from the Fire Nation..." The moment we walked through a large bush, a camp full of Fire Nation soldiers were seen in front of us.

"Run!" I yelled as we dropped our stuff and ran for the nearest opening. Fire was thrown to block us. "We're trapped..."

"Sokka your shirt!" Aang yelled. Said boy yelled when he saw that his clothing was on fire. Katara slapped away the flames with her water bending.

We all huddled together with our backs to the rising flames behind us. "If you let us pass we promise not to hurt you." Sokka said.

"What are you doing?" Katara whispered.

"Bluffing?" He suggested.

"Yeah well I don't know if that will-" Suddenly the man in front fell and I blinked. "What?"

Then if things couldn't any more surprising, a boy jumped down from a tree and took down four men at the same time. "Down you go." He said with a smirk.

"Wow..." I mumbled. Soon more boys came out and took down the remaining men before they began to retreat. When one of the soldiers came up behind me, I ducked out of his reach. Katara water-whipped him in the chest. I gave her a grateful smile before I realized that all of the Fire Nation soldiers were evacuating. Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind and held over someones shoulder.

"Jet, we found a straggler." The older boy said. I struggled to push away with all my might.

"No! Put me down!" I yelled, hitting against his shoulder.

"Hey stop! She's not the enemy!" Sokka said. "She's with us!"

The older boy paused. "Really?" He held me out in front of him as if I was a child. However, I was to nervous to be angry. I gave a tight nod. He immediately dropped me in front of him and I winced from the pain.

"Ow..." I groaned rubbing my butt.

"You guys took down a whole army by yourselves!" Aang said with a smile.

"What? That wasn't an army, it was like twenty guys." Sokka said with a frown.

"So what do we have here?" I glanced up to the shaggy haired boy with a twig in his mouth. For a moment I felt scared. A flash a hate filled his eyes and my chest tightened. I blinked when the look was gone. He put out a hand for me and for a moment I didn't want to take it. I pursed my lips before grabbing his hand as he pulled me to my feet. "What's your name?" He asked at an uncomfortably close proximity.

I looked down at my feet. "Sozai."

"Sozai..." He mumbled in a tone I didn't like. It made my skin crawl and I felt nervous again. I winced when he gripped my hand to tight and pulled it away quickly. "Well my name is Jet and these are my freedom fighters: Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke and Pipsqueak."

"Pipsqueak, that's a funny name." Aang said walking towards the smaller boy.

"You think my name is funny?" Said the boy that had grabbed me so aggressively earlier.

"It's hilarious." Aang said with out a blink of the eye. They both began to laugh before Pipsqueak slapped him on the ground. Aang continued to laugh even after being hit.

I shook my head. Nothing seemed to get him down. I, on the other hand, was now feeling highly nervous. I glanced over to Katara who was now talking to Jet and I held my arms close and walked over to Sokka. "What's wrong?" He asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I...I...I'll.." I looked up to see Jet staring at me. I bit my lip and looked away quickly. "I'll tell you later..."

He furrowed his brow, but nodded regardless. "Hey Jet! These barrels are filled with blasting jelly!" The Duke yelled.

"That's good."

"And these crates are filled with jelly candy!" Pipsqueak added.

"Also good, lets not get those two mixed up." Jet said lean up against a tree.

"We'll bring this stuff back up to the hideout." The Duke said.

"You guys have a hideout?" Aang asked with a smile.

Jet smiled. "Yeah, do you want to see it?"

"Yes, we do!" Katara said immediately.

Jet glanced at me once more. Why did he keep looking at me? It was making me uncomfortable.

* * *

As Jet led us to his hideout, I tried my best to stay at the back of the group. I couldn't really avoid him considering Aang liked him and Katara was practically head over heels. The glances he gave to me didn't make me feel good. They weren't kind or curious, they were just empty. Like he was trying to say something with the dead gaze he would give me. It made me feel like I wasn't welcome.

"Alright we're here." He said finally.

"Where, I don't see anything?" Sokka asked.

"Here take this." He said hand him a rope.

"Why-ahhhhhh!" He screamed as he was swiped up into the trees.

"Aang?" Jet asked.

"I'll go up my own way." He said with a smile. He noticed my off put attitude as I rubbed my arm. Aang took my hand. "Sozai want a lift?"

"Thanks." I was grateful smile. As I went to get on his back I saw Jets eyes pierce through me with an expression I couldn't explain. How did Aang and Katara not see that? I gulped and quickly wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Hold on tight!" Aang said as he blew air and I felt a breeze go underneath us. We jumped from tree to tree as Aang and I looked at the scenery in awe.

"The tree's are even prettier from up here." I said with a wide smile.

The young Avatar nodded in agreement. "Nice place you got!" He yelled to Jet. We finally dropped down behind him and Katara. I gave him a hug around the shoulder.

"Thanks for the lift, buddy." We grinned at each other before I walked over to Katara's side.

"This place is beautiful." She stated.

"Yeah, and more importantly the Fire Nation can't get to us." Jet said.

"They would love to get you, would they Jet?" Smellerbee said dropping down from one of the trees.

"It's not going to happen." He said with a confident smirk.

"Why is the Fire Nation after you?" Katara asked.

"Well...I guess you could say I'm causing them a little trouble. See, they took over a little Earth Kingdom town a few years back." He continued as we started to walk across a bridge.

"We've been going after their troops, cutting off their supply lines and doing anything we can to mess with them." Pipsqueak said.

"One day we'll drive the Fire Nation out for good and free that town." Jet continued.

Katara smiled. "That's so brave."

"Yeaaah, nothing braver than a guy in a tree house." Sokka deadpanned.

"Don't bother listening to him." Katara said with a glare.

"It's okay, he probably had a rough day." Jet reasoned.

I glanced back at him when he called out my name. "Sozai. Something has me curious."

"Yeah?" I said unsure of how else to respond.

"I've notice, you're from the Fire Nation." He said simply. Everyone looked at me as he spoke.

"You would be correct." I said with a wary tone. "I...I'm only a commoner though..." Something in me said that it wasn't a good idea to tell him I was a Princess of the Fire Nation.

From the corner of my eye I saw the rest of the gang give me a strange look. "Really? Your clothes are rather nice to be a commoners." He said casually touching my sleeve. I gulped and did my best to walk out of his reach.

"Yeah, I stole them from the family I served. They didn't exactly treat me nice." I avoid his eyes as I spoke.

"Yes, Fire Nation generally aren't good people so I can see why you left." He said, stopping me from walking all together. Katara looked back with a furrowed brow and I gaped at her as the group moved on ahead. "How did someone like yourself come to travel with such diverse group?"

I looked down at my feet. "It's a pretty complicated story, I doubt that you'd want to hear it..." My skin crawled when he put a hand up to my cheek to make me look up at him.

I squirmed when he leaned in and his lips touched my ear. "No, it sounds interesting to me. I'd love to hear how Fire Nation _swine_ was capable of tricking people into thinking they weren't _despicable_ creatures." He muttered. I backed up and my eyes went wide at his words. He looked at me with absolute hatred and I was filled with complete and utter terror underneath his gaze.

"Jet, Sozai, are you coming?" Katara called with a tone that sounded like jealousy.

"Yeah, I just had a question for Sozai here." Jet told her with a smile as he put a hand on my shoulder squeezing it until a _pain_ shot up my spine. I roughly pushed away his hand and jogged up ahead with Sokka.

I knew for sure that I didn't want to be here any longer then I had to. Jet hated the Fire Nation and he made it very clear that he couldn't stand me. I bit down on my lip to keep it from trembling. It scared me that a boy could hate me for what my nation had most likely done to him.

* * *

When we settled into Jet's hideout it became dark shortly after. I decided that I would stay as far away from Jet as possible even if that meant avoid my own friends. I peered up at Sokka when I saw him standing in front of me. He raised a brow as he spoke. "Why are you over here by yourself?"

"I...I just don't feel like talking to anyone..." I mumbled, pulling legs up to my chest as I lean back against the tree behind me. I blinked when he sat down beside me.

"Yeah me too." He said. "So, what were you going to tell me before?"

"Um, it's nothing." I muttered into my arms.

"No way." Suddenly I was blind, when I realized that he had taken my glasses.

"Hey! Give those back- Sokka!" I groaned.

"Not until you tell me what's bothering you." He taunted, I couldn't see his face but I knew he was getting a kick out of torturing me.

I sighed. "Okay, fine...I don't want to be here."

"You too? I thought I was the only one." Sokka said. "Since Jet's been all over you I thought you'd want to stay." His tone changed a bit when he said this.

I frowned. "He hasn't been 'all over me'. He's...Jet doesn't like the Fire Nation."

"Well, he likes you." Sokka said giving me back my glasses. His tone still a bit off.

I frowned remembering the pain in my shoulder and spine. "No, he doesn't."

"So is that all that's bothering you?" He asked leaning forward to see my face. For a moment I didn't know if I should tell him what Jet had said to me, what he had done to me. I opened my mouth to speak, but said boy stood up to give a victory speech.

"Today we struck another blow at the Fire Nation _swine_." The crowd of boys and girls cheered. I frowned, being that he had just called myself 'swine' not that long ago. "Now the Fire Nation thinks that they don't have to worry about a couple of kids jumping through trees...maybe their right?...or maybe their _dead_ wrong." I winced when he used more force on his words. The crowd cheered and he raised his cup in a celebratory fashion.

Jet walked towards Katara and Aang as she smiled and began talking with him. "Sozai, there's something I wanted to ask you." I turned to Sokka as he spoke. "Why did you lie to Jet about who you were?"

"Do you really think it would have been a good idea to tell him I'm a Princess?" I whispered. "Sokka, Jet _hates_ the Fire Nation." Fear flooded through my shaky voice. He seemed to see this.

"Earlier...what did he say to you?" He asked in a serious tone. I was silent. "Sozai you-"

"Hey Sokka, Sozai, come over here!" Aang called. We looked at each other before walking over to them. "We were just talking and guess what, Jet asked us to help his freedom fighters!"

"Isn't that great?" Katara asked.

"Unfortunately, we have to leave tonight." Sokka said beginning to walk away.

"Sokka, you're kidding me? I need you and Sozai on an important mission tomorrow." All the color drained from my face. Why would he need me?

"What mission?" Sokka asked.

"It's a simple stake out." Jet said. "I'm sure you're more than capable of handling that."

Said boy scoffed. "Of course I can, but Sozai isn't the fighting type."

"Really?" Jet said looking me up and down. I forced my eyes to look anywhere else, but at him.

Aang nodded with a proud smile. "Yeah, but she's really smart. She knows things about the Avatar that I didn't even know and _I'm_ the Avatar!"

"Well all the more reason she should come." Jet said taking a step toward me, leaning his head to met me at eye level. "Unless you aren't capable. I would understand." He smiled at me, but a look of complete and utter hatred for what I represented filled his eyes.

I resisted the urge to glare at him. "Of course I can come."

His smirk widened. "Good, we'll meet here first thing tomorrow." He stood up and walked over to his freedom fighters.

"What was that?" I blinked out of my stare, turning to Katara. She looked at me with a bother expression.

"What do you mean?"

"Since we've got here you've been all over Jet." She accused with a hand on her hip.

My mouth gaped open in shock. "WHAT! _Me_?" It was obvious that she was jealous. However, there was absolutely nothing to be jealous of! Jet wanted to hurt me and he already had, but Katara's love struck feelings were getting in the way of her brain. "I don't even- Urgh! He doesn't...Oh whatever, think what you want!" I huffed walking away from her.

I furthest away from the rest of the camp and laid down. The wooden floor was hard, but it was better than the hateful stares I was receiving from literally 95% of the room. I sighed into my arm, wishing that Appa was here so I could lay down on his soft fur instead.

* * *

The next morning Sokka and I waited a the bottom of the tree for Jet. "So...yesterday was a bit tense." He said breaking the silence between us.

"Yeah, kind of." I mumbled, turning away from him and kicking my foot at a tree root.

The boy sighed seeing as that wasn't going to make me talk. "Sozai, come on. I haven't known you that long, but I'm smart enough to know that something is bothering you." He put a hand on my shoulder turning me to him. "If you'd just talk to me, maybe I could help. We're friends aren't we?" His blue eyes were wide and sincere.

I pursed my lips. "Sokka, right now...the best thing you can do for me is just be you."

He furrowed brow with a frown before relaxing his face. "Alright, but you're going to have to tell me sooner or later." I nodded.

Suddenly, Jet and the rest of his gang dropped down in front of us. I narrowed my eyes. It made me wonder if they had been there the entire time. I didn't like or trust Jet so anything is possible at this point. The group walked towards us as Jet came at an uncomfortably close proximity. Sokka noticed my discomfort and stood in front of me.

"So what is it we're doing today?" He asked with his arms crossed.

Jet raised his brow at the display before smirking. "Well, like I said yesterday, we'll be on watch for Fire Nation soldiers. When they come by we say...hello and introduce ourselves."

"By introductions, you really mean fight, don't you?" I asked.

"Wow, Aang was right you really are smart." Jet said. The freedom fighters began to chuckle at my expense.

My lips twitched into a frown at his sarcasm. "Well that doesn't explain why I have to be here, I can't firebend and I'm not equipped with any fighting ability."

"And that's the beauty of it." He paused. "You just need to be a distraction."

My eyes widened. "A distraction?"

"Yes." He said casually. "You're wearing Fire Nation clothing, they could mistake you for a wandering villager."

"And what if they don't?" I asked narrowing my eyes.

He twisted the twig in his mouth. "By then we'd already gone down to rescue you." I only stared at him, tightening my fist. "Unless...you're afraid, it's alright if you are."

It wasn't even about the stake out, he was instigating the issue between us. He knew I was afraid of him and he _liked_ it. Hold fear over one Fire Nation girl was one step toward his dream of taking down the people he hated most. If I admitted I was afraid he would win and I wouldn't let him do that.

"No, it's fine. Like you said, if anything goes wrong you'll rescue me, right?" It wasn't a question. It looked as though Jet was resisting the urge to scowl at me. I smiled in response. "Well I suppose we should go then, right? Lead the way freedom fighter."

As they walked past me, I felt relieved that I hadn't let him get to me. I glanced to Sokka who looked at me with concerned eyes. I shook my head and we walked on to our stake out point.

* * *

I frowned at the ground with my arms crossed. I was currently standing in the middle of the road while everyone else hid in the trees. I knew that Jet wanted me in harms way, but I wasn't going to let that bother me. Of course, traveling with the Avatar was going to put me in danger and I knew that. Though it wasn't much different than traveling with my brother who seemed to purposely look for trouble.

I sighed and kicked at the dirt underneath my foot. I wondered if anyone was actually going to come down this path at all. It seemed like it had been ages. I leaned back against a large tree and looked up at it's pretty red leaves. Suddenly, I heard foot steps heading toward me. My shoulders tensed up and worry filled the pit of my stomach, I turned only to find a elderly man walking towards me.

I blinked. He wasn't a soldier, he didn't even look like he could pass as a threat. I slowly met him half way, until he stopped in front of me.

The older man smiled at me kindly. "Hello young lady."

"Hello sir." I said with a slightly awkward wave.

"What's a child like you doing in the middle of the forest, it's dangerous out here you know."

"I...well I'm just...walking..." I muttered. I glanced up to the tree's once more and Jet looked like he was about to pounce.

"Going on a walk?" He asked. "I'm doing the same. I'm old, but I still could use exercise." He laughed a bit hoping I would do the same.

I smiled uneasily. This man wasn't going to cause any harm he was just an innocent old man on a walk. However, Jet didn't seem like the type to care. I didn't want him to get hurt. Leaning forward I whispered hastily. "You need to get out of here, now!"

The elderly man raised his brow. "Hm?"

"This is an ambush, you need to go now-" Before I could finish, Jet and gang jumped down. I stood in front of the man to block his path. "Jet, no he didn't do anything-" Pipsqueak held me back and covered my mouth. I scowled, trying to break free.

"What are you doing in our forest leech?"

"Please, I'm just a traveler." The man said quietly. My eyes widened when Jet kicked the elderly man's can making him fall onto the ground. I elbowed Pipsqueak in the stomach to get away, but it wasn't working.

"Do you like destroying towns, do you like destroying families? Do you?" The boy asked hostily.

"Please, let me go, have mercy." The man whispered.

"Does the Fire Nations let people go! Does the Fire Nation have mercy!" Jet brought his foot back to kick the man, but Sokka stopped him in time. I sighed in relief.

"Jet, he's just an old man!" Sokka yelled.

"He's Fire Nation search him!" Jet said. Pipsqueak dropped me and I glared at his back.

"He's not hurting anyone!" He reasoned.

"Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother? Remember why you fight!"

"We got his stuff, Jet." Smellerbee said with a proud smile. How could she be excited about something like this? There was nothing to be happy about.

"This doesn't feel right." Sokka said, shaking his head.

"It's because it isn't!" I barked in anger.

"It's what has to be done, you wouldn't understand." Jet growled at me with angry eyes. "Let's get out of here."

They brushed passed me and I gritted my teeth at the boy. I felt bitter distaste for Jet that I couldn't shake and after this I was sure of it. I disliked him especially how he treated a simple traveler. I glanced at the old man's cane and brought it back to his side.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." I mumbled before turning away after the group.

* * *

When we got back to the hide out, Sokka went off on his own to think while I paced back and forth. I felt like Zuko in times like this and I couldn't shake the anger inside me. I needed to confront Jet. He needed to know that I wasn't going to back down and I wasn't afraid of him. Not to mention that everything he's been doing up to now has been wrong. The Fire Nation represented something horrible, but that didn't mean everyone felt the same way.

I stalked up to Longshot when I spotted him sitting on the ledge of the bridge. He glanced to me when he saw me approach him. "Can you tell me where I can find Jet? I need to talk to him." He paused for a moment before turning back to his arrows. I huffed in anger. "Look, I know I'm Fire Nation and I know that automatically makes me the enemy. However, this is important and I would appreciate just two seconds of your time...please?"

He looked back to me before pointing to the tree house on the other side of the bridge. "Thanks..." I mumbled, stalking passed him. I continued into the room without hesitation. When I got inside, I spotted him sitting on the floor with his eyes closed.

"Jet." I said as firmly as I could.

"What." He answered in a dull tone as if I wasn't worth his time.

"We need to talk." I replied, tightening my fist to keep calm.

He opened his eyes and looked me over. "And what would I possibly have to talk about with you...besides how disgusting you and your Nation are."

"Well, we could talk about how despicable you were to that poor old man." I countered, trying my hardest not to sound weak.

Apparently it was working. Jet stood up and slowly walked toward me. Everything with in myself told me to run away. "You know, I'm pretty sick of seeing your face." He stated simply.

"So am I, however, we can't all just attempt to kill people when we're mad at their Nation." I snapped. "I don't know what happened to you, but you need to understand that not all Fire Nation are as cold hearted and evil as you make them out to be."

"Mm, I guess you're one of the exceptions, right?" He asked leaning his face toward me with a smirk.

I frowned at his response, backing away slightly. "You have some real space issues for someone that hates me."

"And you're afraid of me." He said with glee over flowing his tone.

"...no." I said quietly as he started walking towards me. I continued to back up until I hit a wall.

"Not very confident, now are you...repulsive leech." He whispered in my ear. I turned my face away with a furrowed brow and pursed lips.

"Sozai?" I turned around to see Katara, Aang and Sokka come in. Katara looked bothered once again, being that I was close to her precious Jet. I pushed him away and quickly stood behind Aang. "What are you doing in here?" 'With Jet' was implied.

"She wanted to talk to me about what happened this afternoon." Jet said looking them over. "Judging by your faces, I'm assuming you want the same thing."

"Yeah..." Aang said. "Sokka told us you beat up an old guy, is that true?"

"Sokka, you told them what happened, but you didn't tell them he was Fire Nation?" He said.

Katara frowned at me then her brother. "No he conveniently left that out."

"Fine, even if he was Fire Nation, he was still a civilian." Sokka reasoned.

"Why does that even matter?" I questioned. "He wasn't doing anything but walking. The only thing that does matter is that you hurt him for no reason."

Jet glanced at me before taking out a knife. "He was an assassin, there was a compartment for poison. He was sent there to eliminate me, you two helped save my life."

I narrowed my eyes. "Really."

"I knew there was an explanation." Katara smiled.

"I didn't see any knife." Sokka said.

"He was concealing it." Jet said.

"If that was so, how would you have known that he was an assassin sent to kill you specifically." I countered.

"And there wasn't even a knife!" Sokka yelled. "Sozai was there, she would know. She was the distraction."

I sighed. "I didn't see a knife, he was just a traveler on a walk."

"I'm sure you just didn't see the knife." Katara said.

"Fine, sure, whatever." I said, walking out of the room.

"Sozai wait!" Sokka said, running after me. "Are you going to pack?"

"What else is there to do? They won't listen to me. Besides, I don't want to stay here any longer." I mumbled with a grimace.

"Yeah, speaking of...what were you and Jet doing back there?" He asked awkwardly.

I frowned. " _I_ wasn't doing anything, _he_ was being a creeper."

He raised his brow. "What-"

Suddenly, Katara and Aang came into the room. "How can you two leave when the Fire Nation is about to destroy an entire forest!"

"Katara, I've made up my mind." Sokka said. "My instincts-"

"No, you know what I think, you're just jealous that he's a better leader than you are." She accused.

My eye twitched. "Katara, he's not a good anything. Jet is a horrible person."

She looked at me. "And you, I don't understand."

"You don't understand _me_?" I repeated.

"Jet told me that you've been coming on to him and he's tried to let you down. And today you even-"

"Oh _shut up_ Katara, as far as I can see you're the jealous one! Which is insane because you have nothing to be jealous about! Can't you look past your stupid girly fantasies and see what's actually happening?! Are you that dense?" I snapped.

Her eyes widened before she scowled. "I don't care what you say, we're helping Jet because it's the right thing to do. Since your Fire Nation you probably wouldn't understand." She stomped out of the room with Aang quietly following after her.

I groaned in frustration, kicking the wall. "Unbelievable!"

We were both quiet as I stalked over to a corner and laid down facing the wall. "Do you wanna talk-"

"No...Sorry Sokka, I just...no." I trailed off, closing my eyes in anger. He didn't say anything else after all, but I didn't hear him leave either.

* * *

"...ozai...Sozai."

I blinked the sleep out of my eyes when I saw Sokka leaning over me. "What is it?" I mumbled.

"It's Jet, he's up to something." He said with determined eyes.

I furrowed my brow with a nod. We discreetly ran across the bridge before he held onto and gripped his waist as we dropped down into a lower tree. I climbed down after him into the bushes as we crawled into a hiding spot. Jet and his freedom fighters were walking with a wagon full of blasting jelly...I looked at Sokka as he seemed to realize the same thing.

"Don't blow the dam until I give you the signal, the rezerwaur needs to be full otherwise the soldiers might survive."

"What about the people in the village?" The Duke asked.

"Their just small collateral damage to a bigger cause." Jet reasoned.

I turned to Sokka as if to say 'we need to get out of here, now!' He nodded. However, before we could get away I was pulled out of the bushes by Jet himself.

"Now what do we have here?" He asked, taking one of my arms and turning me towards him. I winced at the pressure he was putting on my wrist.

"We heard about your plan to flood the village." Sokka said.

"There's always going to be a few sacrifices." Jet answered.

"Are you even listening to yourself?" I asked with an incredulous tone. "You're going to kill countless innocent human beings! Ow!" I yelped when he shoved me onto the ground.

"And you lied to Aang and Katara!" Sokka yelled.

"Because they don't understand the art of war." He paused with a smirk. "Not like you and I do."

"I understand that there's nothing you won't do to get what you want." Sokka said with scowl.

"Mm, I thought we had an understanding, but I guess I was wrong. Take him for a walk, a long walk." Jet said.

"What do we do with her?" Smellerbee asked, pointing over to me.

The boy looked over to me before giving me an evil smirk. "She can get a front row seat when the dam breaks."

I shuffled back in fear. "No!"

He yanked me up by my hair and I screamed. "Shut up."

"Leave her alone!" Sokka said as he was being pushed in the opposite direction. However, he couldn't do anything to get away. Soon I couldn't hear him anymore and I was scared again. I saw The Duke in the corner of my eye looking unsure of what to make of the situation. While Longshot held a blank expression.

When I felt Jet's hold on my hair loosen I pulled away from him I threw sand in his eyes. "Ak! You wench!" I kicked him between the legs and ran for the forest as fast as I could.

"Go after her now!" I heard him yell.

My eyes were starting to blur as I realized I had started to cry. I heard them behind me and I desperately search for a place to hide. I dove into a random section of bushes and held in my shaky sobs. It was quiet for a moment before I saw Longshot walk past the bush I was currently concealed in. I clamped a hand over my nose and mouth to hide myself. When he suddenly turned around, that's when I began to cry once again. My eyes were wide and filled with horror when he looked directly at me. My knees felt weak as he stared.

"Longshot did you spot her?" Jet asked.

All the blood drained from my face and my heart was beating extremely fast. The boy paused and glanced at me before shaking his head 'no'. Suddenly I felt confused. Why wouldn't he tell Jet where I was? Regardless, I was grateful, but I wouldn't dare speak until I was sure they were gone.

I heard Jet growl frustration. "Well, she couldn't have gotten that far. We just have to get her after the dam is blown. Let's go." As they walked away I finally felt the reality of the situation. They were going to murder an entire village and I had to do something to help. I decided to count to 100 before I even dare think about moving.

When I was sure they were gone I pulled myself out of the branches and started towards Jet's hideout. It was obvious that my legs weren't going to get me there fast enough, so I need Appa. I sneaked through the forest to the best of my ability until I spotted Appa laying down next to a tree.

"Appa buddy." I whispered. The bison attempted to welcome my presence before I silenced him. "No, big guy, we have to be quiet. There's some bad guys after me and everyone's in danger. Can you help me?" Appa licked my face and I took that as a yes. I climbed onto his back and took hold of the rope that steered him. "Alright, I've never did this before so hopefully I don't crash you, not that you're not intelligent enough...anyway let's go...uh yip yip, right?"

Appa went into the air and flew until the village came into sight. I blinked when I spotted Sokka from the air. "Drop here, Appa!" He did as I asked and I jumped off and ran towards the village gate. "Sokka!"

He didn't seem to be paying attention as the villagers were yelling at him. "How do we know you're not a a spy sent to trick us!" A soldier yelled.

"We can't trust you!" Someone else said. The villagers rallied as I walked up.

"No, listen! The dam is going to blow and if you guys don't get out of here you'll get swamp!" Sokka yelled.

"He's right!" I piped as they looked at me. "Look I know what he's saying doesn't sound trust worthy, but if you'd just-"

"You're right it doesn't sound trust worthy!" The villagers began to yell again.

I glanced to Sokka in distress. They weren't going to listen to us. "WAIT!" Someone yelled. The crowd split to show the elderly man that was ambushed in the forest.

"It's the old man." I mumbled in surprise.

"You know these two?" A soldier asked in suspicion.

"Yes, they stood up for me when young boys tried to harm me. If they say the dam will blow I believe them." The man said. The crowd quieted down as they turned to us.

I elbowed Sokka to speak. "Look, we probably don't have a lot of time, but we need to evacuate and fast!"

The villager whispered among themselves before they began leaving together. "You did it!" I said to the Watertribe boy with a smile.

"Well, we wouldn't have been able to do anything if it weren't for that man." Sokka said turning to the elder. He bowed to us before turning to the rest of the crowd leaving the village.

"Well, we'd better go." I said. " I brought Appa."

Sokka steered this time as and we landed a few feet from Katara, Aang and Jet. "We've rid this valley of the Fire Nation and we're safe." He said.

"Yeah, safe from you!" I spat in anger. He looked at me with hate and I stuck out my tongue.

"Sokka! Sozai!" Katara said with a smile. It was strange for her to be happy to see me, being that I had insulted her last night.

"The villagers are safe, we warned them just in time." Sokka said.

"You traitor! We could have freed everyone from the Fire Nation!" Jet yelled.

"Freed who, everyone would have been dead!" He said. "You became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people."

Jet struggled to get out of his ice barricade. "Katara?"

"Goodbye Jet." She said climbing onto the bison.

"And good riddance!" I shouted, before laying back on Appa as we flew into the sky.

* * *

"Oh Spirtual Lion Turtles we're finally out of there, that was a nightmare."

I sat up adjusting my shirt and Katara began to notice the bruises on my shoulder and wrist. "Sozai what happened?!"

"Jet." I said simply.

"Did he do that to your hair too?"

"Jet." I answered.

"And your wrist?"

"Also Jet."

"These bruises look older, was he hurting you the whole time?" Aang asked.

I nodded. "When I said he hated the Fire Nation, I meant it."

"That's horrible." Katara said in a guilty tone. "I'm sorry I said all those mean things about you."

"It's okay, I'm sorry too." I touched her shoulder with a kind smile.

"You were right...I was jealous and I shouldn't have been." She continued.

"No, it's fine. To be honest, I thought he looked...cool until, you know, the domestic abuse." I said laying back on Appa's back.

"So are you okay?" Aang asked. I nodded with a grin.

"So how is our brave leader doing?" I asked, glancing up at Sokka.

"Fine." He said simply. " Are you sure you're alright?"

"Of course." I said tiredly. "Just give me a nap and I'm ready to go."

Sokka glanced at my bruised neck. "I'm sorry Jet hurt you like that."

I shrugged. "I'm just glad Katara glued him to a tree." I leaned over the front of Appa and rubbed his head. "...Your a good leader, Sokka."

"I'm sorry what was that?" He asked with a grin.

I turned away slightly flustered. "I won't say it again."

"Hey, wise and fearless leader, we're going the wrong way." Katara said. Aang laughed.

"...I knew that." Sokka said. I smiled laying back down and falling asleep.

 **A chapter to kick off the year. Reviews would be great too.**


	10. The Friend Zone

I shivered when I dipped my toes into the cold water. As I wiggled my feet, I leaned back on my hands and took a deep breath. We've had a rather eventful couple of weeks, whether it was traveling across a canyon or being stuck in a storm. Not to mention, Katara and Sokka getting sick. Being the only healthy one, I took care of them while Aang went to find them medical assistance. They ended up having to suck on frogs, which was completely disgusting.

Sokka still hasn't stopped complaining about it.

I blinked out of my thought when something brushed passed my ankle. I quickly pulled back my feet with a gasp of surprise. Holding my knees to my chest, inching towards the water to get a better look at what exactly touched me. To my relief, it was a fish. A rather large fish at that. I grinned at it's pretty scales. I jumped back when the fish leaped out of the water, splashing me in the face.

I sighed. "I wonder what kind of fish that is..."

"It's about to be dinner." I glanced back at Sokka, who was narrowing his eyes at the jumping fish.

"Wait I want to figure out what it's called first." I persisted, struggling to remember what book I had read about jumping fish.

"Well, you can do that when it's cooking. Cause I'm hungry for some fish!" He exclaimed, running to get his fishing rod.

I frowned at his back as he ran back over and began to thrust the stick at the water. He blinked when he realized the fishing line was not attached. "Hey, where's the fishing line?"

"Oh, I didn't think that you would need it Sokka." Aang said with smile as he held up a necklace.

He squinted his eyes and frowned. "Ahhh, now it's all tangled!"

"It's not tangled, it's woven." Aang said, hovering to his feet, before turning to the Watertribe girl. "I made you a necklace Katara...I thought since you lost your other one..." He trailed off before holding it up to her face.

"Aw, that's cute." I said with a side-ways grin. He blushed at my tone.

"Thanks Aang, I love it." Katara said with a grateful smile.

"Great Aang, instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry making business." Sokka said with a deadpan.

"I don't see why he can't do both." I piped. "You're just mad cause you can't catch the fish anymore."

He narrowed his eyes with a scrunch up expression. "Oh yeah, watch me." He threw a spear into the water and it missed by three feet.

"Ah ha." I teased, with a toothy smile.

"Urgh! You and this stupid fish are taunting me!" Sokka yelled, as he jumped into the water with a knife.

I shrugged, crossing my legs on the beach floor. "Not my fault you can't hunt." This made me grin even further when he dove into the water.

"So how do I look?" I glanced back at Katara, before I watched Aang look her over with dreamy eyes.

 _Ooooh, I see._ I thought with the urge to tease building up inside me.

"D-do you mean all of you or just your neck? Cause both of you look great!" The boy said, rubbing his head shyly.

Suddenly, Sokka popped out of the water with the fish. "Oooh, smoochy smoochy, someones in love~" Soon after the tail of the creature smacked him in the face, causing me to abrupt into a laughing fit. Aang caught my attention when he began to stutter out incoherent sentences.

Katara cut him off before he could actually say anything understandable. "Oh, quit teasing him, Sokka. Aang's just a good friend. A sweet little guy, like Momo."

Ouch, he was just compared to an animal. That's pretty far in the friend zone if you ask me.

"Thanks..." He mumbled with a deadpan expression.

I blinked when a roar echoed through the trees. "Do you guys hear that?" We all looked at each other before running toward the sound. I hastily yanked on my shoes to catch up to everyone else.

"Someone is being attacked by a platypus-bear!" Aang pointed at the man who smiled up at the creature. He dodged the aggressive animals paws with ease. Somehow he didn't seem to be all that bothered by an angry platypus-bear clawing for him.

When we finally made it up to the man, he turned to us and smiled. "Hello, nice day isn't it?"

"Make some noise, he'll run off!" Aang yelled.

"No play dead, he'll lose interest!" Sokka piped.

The man ducked under his paw and laughed. "Wow close one!"

I quirked a brow at the peculiar man. It almost seemed like he was playing with him. I decided that I would sit down on the rock behind me to see what the man would do. It wasn't like I could fight the animal if it started anymore trouble.

"Run down hill and climb up a tree!" Katara said.

"No, punch him in the bill!" Her brother added.

"I don't think that's going to help." I mumbled as I crossed my legs on the rock, propping my hand underneath my cheek.

"Oh, run in zig-zags!" Aang said.

"No need." The man stated simply. "It's going to be fine." He backed up against a tree and dodge a swipe from the platypus-bear's paw. It broke the tree and Aang jumped through the air to save the elderly man. Suddenly, Appa came up behind the smaller beast and roared. The animal became scared and ran away, leaving an egg behind.

I stood up seeing that the small commotion was over with. Sokka scrambled over to the egg picking it up with hungry eyes. "Mmmm, lunch! You're lucky that we came along."

"Thanks." The man said. "But everything was already under control, not to worry. Aunt Wu predicted I would have a safe journey."

"Aunt who?" Aang questioned.

" _No_ , Aunt Wu, she is the fortune teller from my village." He explained. "It's nice knowing your future."

"Hm, I suppose that makes since" I said as I adjusted my glasses. "That explains why you were so relaxed."

"You as well." He stated. I raised my brow. "I saw that you sat down when you realized there was no real danger."

I shrugged. "Well I wasn't sure. Besides I couldn't save you even if I wanted to."

"Hm, well I was fortunate for Aunt Wu's prediction then." He said with a smile.

"But the fortune teller was wrong!" Sokka argued. "You didn't have a safe journey, you were almost killed!"

"But I wasn't. Alright, good day." He said beginning to walk away. "Oh, I almost forgot. Aunt Wu said if I met any travelers, I should give them this." He handed Aang an unknown object wrapped in paper.

"Oh come on, stop with all this nonsense." Sokka said. I walked over to Aang and leaned over his shoulder.

"What is it?" I asked as he began to open up the packaging.

"Oh, what do you know, an umbrella." He said, opening up said item.

"Why would we need an-" Suddenly, it began to rain and closed my mouth. Never mind.

"That proves it!" Katara said, getting underneath the umbrella.

"No it doesn't! You can't really tell the future." He argued.

"Well Sokka even if that's true, you _are_ getting wet and I don't want to deal with your sickness again." I said as I stood beside Aang to get out of the rain. "Unless you liked sucking on frogs."

"Ak! Sozai, don't bring that up!" He yelled in disgust. I smirked as he shivered in remembrance. Suddenly, the egg slipped out of his hand knocking against his head and cracking open. He grumbled in aggravation.

"Just admit you're wrong and you can come under the umbrella." Katara said.

"Look! I'm gonna predict the future now: it's going to keep drizzling." He said wiggling his fingers for effect. "See?" Immediately after, it stopped.

"Wow, the universe is not on your side." I said with a light chuckle. He frown in response.

Aang look up at the sky and gave a cheeky smile. "Not everyone has the gift Sokka."

Appa shook out his fur and water splashed all over the Water tribe boy. He groaned in frustration.

"Arugh! Whatever let's just get going." Sokka grumbled.

"Actually I was thinking we should go to that old man's village." Katara said. "I'm curious about this Aunt Wu woman."

"What! You can't be serious? We have other things to do, like take Aang to the North Pole."

Aang shrugged. "I'm with Katara on this one."

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "Of course you are." He glanced to me as I walked with my arms held behind my back. "What about you, Sozai? You're all about reasonable explanations and facts."

"Mm..." I hummed. "Well, I never thought I'd ever see the Avatar or a flying bison...so I suppose this could be something to look into."

He groaned. "Come on Sozai, I thought you were smart."

I frowned at that. "Well, I'm not the one covered in egg slim." He subconsciously sniffed his shirt. "But I bet being soaked in rain washed you off. I'll find you a frog if you get sick." I smirked in satisfaction at his grunt of frustration.

"It's three against one, Sokka." Aang said.

"Fine, we'll go to the stupid fortune teller village." He mumbled as stalked ahead of us with his arms crossed.

I grinned at his annoyance. "Hey, Sozai." I glanced over to Katara, who looked at me curiously.

"Yeah?"

"You tease Sokka a lot, any reason?" She asked with a not so subtle smile.

I deadpanned. This conversation was not going to happen. "Mm, not really. I just like to bother him." I put a hand to my chin. "I usually teased my brother too. It was fun, seeing him get frustrated when he couldn't think of a come back. Though, most of time we ended up arguing. Pretty good times. "

Katara sweatdropped. Talking about my brother so casually must be awkward. Considering he want's to capture Aang and destroy hope. "So that's all?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I mean I would tease you too if I could think of anything to bother you about." My eyes turned to Aang as he saw me looking at him with a mischievous expression. "I think I just figured out how to aggravate Aang."

"Really?" She whispered. "What is it?" Aang flushed when I grinned at him.

"Mm, let's just say it's not that hard to see." Said boy suddenly walked a bit faster to avoid anymore embarrassment.

I suppose that's the only thing that Azula and I have in common as twins. We like to tease.

* * *

I looked up at the village when we came closer in view. I squinted my eyes and adjusted my glasses to get a better look at the mountain at the further end of the village. Wait, that wasn't a mountain, it seemed to be a dormant volcano. I felt a bit uneasy. Considering the last time I this close to a magma filled mountain, my life was endangered and I was separated from my brother.

When we walked through the opening gate, I looked around at all the buildings. "I wonder if they have a library."

"Maybe the fortune teller can _predict_ it's location." Sokka mocked as he wiggled his fingers. Katara glared at him with out a word as we walked through the small town.

Suddenly a man standing outside caught our attention. He bowed to us and I raised my brow as he spoke. "Aunt Wu is expecting you."

Katara smiled in glee. "Really?" Sokka huffed in disbelief.

As we walked inside, I examined my surroundings. Before I had chance to take everything in, a girl walked up. She had two thick pony tails that went straight into the air. She looked about the same age as Aang, if not a bit younger.

She smiled. "Hello, my name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." I raised my brow as her eyes traveled over to Aang. She looked at him with wide eyes before grinning.

"Well, hello there." She said.

Aang scratched his nose. "Hello."

"Can I get you some tea, or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?" She asked Aang specifically. We all sat down on the pillows laid out for us. I plopped down next to Aang and looked up at the girl as she eyed him expectantly.

Instead Sokka interrupted. "I'll take some of those-"

"Just a second." She said, leaning towards Aang. "What's your name?"

"Aang." The boy stated simply.

"Really?" Meng said excitedly. "That rhymes with Meng and you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?"

"I guess..." He mumbled.

"Don't be modest there huge!" Sokka exaggerated.

I laughed. "I suppose that's something else to tease you about." He covered his ears and blushed.

"Well, Aang it was very nice to meet you, _very_ nice." She said before turning away.

"I can't believe we're in the house of nonsense." Sokka complained.

Katara frowned. "Try to keep an open mind Sokka. There are some things in this world that just can't be explain. Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future."

"It's would be nice to have some bean curd puffs." He countered with a smug expression.

"Sokka, I'm not saying that I completely believe in fortune telling, but why are you so against it?" I asked.

"Because, that elderly man back there almost got himself killed because he believed some stupid prediction." The Watertribe boy explained with a sigh. "All I'm saying is a person can't build their life around stuff like that."

"I suppose I can understand what your saying." I said, leaning back on my hands. I looked over to Meng as she came back to the room with a bowl in her hands. She looked down at Aang nervously before she almost tripped. Aang caught her and she blushed as he held a clueless expression.

"U-uh...enjoy your snacks!" She said before hurrying away. Sokka snatched away the bowl and began to devour the curd puffs. My eye twitched at how untidily he consumed the food.

I peered up at at an older woman when she spoke. "Welcome young travelers. Now whose next? Don't be shy." We all turned to Katara, who seemed the most excited to be here.

She smiled. "I guess that's me." Standing to her feet, they walked to the back. When they were both out of sight, Aang began to speak.

"Soooo..." He drawled out as he rubbed the back of his head. "What do you think they're talking about?"

I blinked at him before an evil grin appeared on my face. "Oh you know, the essentials. Love, who she's going to marry...how many children she'll conceive."

"All dumb things if you ask me." Sokka said as he continued to eat. My grin widened when the boy shuffled anxiously.

"Yeah...dumb stuff like that...I-I have to go to the bathroom." He said hurriedly standing to his feet.

"Kay." I said as he walked away quickly. I giggled a bit. "He so obvious."

"Who is?" Sokka asked as he stuffed his face. I raised my brow at the crumbs on his cheeks. He such a messy eater.

"Are you going to finish all of that yourself?" I questioned.

"Mm, why? You want some?" He held out the bowl to me. I grimaced at the way he chewed.

"No thanks." I grumbled, putting my hand up. The way he ate made it less appetizing.

"Hey, why the face?" He asked with a suspicious expression.

"No reason." I said casually before quirking a smile. "You still kind of smell like a platypus-bear egg." I laughed as he pushed me over and hit me with a pillow. I was about to retaliate, before I spotted Aang. He walked in with a satisfied expression.

"Someone must have had a good bathroom break." Sokka commented.

Said boy stopped with a off put expression. "Yeah, uh actually when I was in there I-"

"I don't even want to know!" He said put up his hand. Immediately after, Aunt Wu and Katara came back in.

"Alright whose next?" She asked.

"Okay." Sokka sighed as he stood up. "Let's get this over with."

"Your future is filled with struggle and anguish, most of it self inflicted." The woman said with a dry tone.

Sokka held an incredulous expression. "What? But you didn't read my palms or anything!"

"I don't need to, it's written all over your face." She answered. I attempted to hold in my laugh at his deadpanned expression, but I was failing very badly. "You there."

I blinked when she pointed in my direction. "Me?"

"Yes, you. Come this way." I stood to my feet and followed her to the back. She opened the paper sliding door and I examined the room with curious eyes. "Have a seat and we can get started." I sat down on the wooden floor, before my eyes widened excitedly at a book.

"Oooh, what's that? If you don't mind me asking." I said with a large smile.

She peered over at the book on beside her. "I see you like to read."

"Mm, very much so, I'm kind of feeling a withdrawal right now. I'm desperate for anything." I explained honestly, adjusting my glasses.

"We have a library just down the street from here." She informed.

"Really?"

"Yes, not a very wide variety, but it is there." Aunt Wu said picking up the book. "This is book gives predictions by clouds. It let's me know our future through the shapes that the clouds make."

I raised my brow. "I see..."

"You are not a believer like your friend?" She questioned.

"I'm not really sure." I admitted. "I've never believed in fate and such, but my Uncle always told me to keep an open mind."

She nodded before she took my hand. "Well, let's see what fate has in store for you." I gazed at her curiously as she trailed her fingers over my palm. "You...have dealt with a few losses, but it will not be permanent."

I hoped she was talking about Zuko.

This made me smile a bit. "Anything else?"

"You are playing a small role in a larger adventure, but you will still be significant." She said. Well that was nice to know that I wasn't complete useless. Even if this woman wasn't being very specific, I'd like to think what I would help Aang, even if it was a little. "Oh...what's this?"

I leaned forward. "You see something else?"

Her lips twisted into a smile. "You seem to have a little romance in your life."

I blinked before my face scrunched up in an uncomfortable confusion. "Romance?"

"What's wrong? You don't want to hear about it?" She asked with a curious gleam in her eyes.

I shook my head. "No, not really. It would be weird knowing about that type of thing."

"Are you sure, it's quite interesting." She persisted.

"No, I'm sure." I said firmly, before I smiled.

I stood to my feet and we walked back to the front of the establishment. When Aang went back and I sat down, I thought about everything the woman had told me. Hearing about my future sounded to good to be true and most of the time I wasn't much of a believer. However, she told me I would meet someone I lost. I really did wish it would be Zuko and Uncle. Though, my brother had a lot of abandonment issues, I hoped he didn't hate me if we ever saw each other again.

I blinked when I realized that Aang had come back and I had been zoned out the entire time. I glanced to the boy who had been smiling since we began to leave the building.

"Well, now you got to see for yourself that fortune telling is just a big stupid hoax." Sokka said with a grumpy expression.

Katara smirked. "You're just saying that because you're going to make yourself unhappy your whole life."

"Augh! That woman is crazy! My life will be calm, happy and joyful!" He yelled as he aggressively kicked a rock. I ducked with a yelp, when it bounced off of sign and hit Sokka in the head. "That doesn't prove anything!"

"Well, she was right about something." He frowned at me before I put out a hand for him and pulled him to his feet.

"Well, I like my fortune. Somethings are going to turn out very well." Katara said. Aang smiled excitedly at her, making it obvious that he had ease dropped.

I raised an amused brow when he leaned toward her. "They sure are."

"Why, what did she tell you?" She asked with a clueless smile.

He froze nervously. "Some stuff, you'll find out."

I grinned at the boy. "I'm sure we will, buddy."

"Well, what about you Sozai? Anything good you'd like to share?" Katara asked with a mischievous smile. I furrowed my brow, why does she keep looking at me like that? Is she still on that thing about me and Sokka? We're friends on a quest to save the world and she wants to play matchmaker? Of course, I tease Aang about the same thing, but hey call me hypocritical.

I shrugged. "It was general stuff, really. Supposedly, I'm going to regain ties with someone I've lost."

"Ties with someone you've lost?" Aang repeated. I nodded.

"Hopefully it's not Zuko." Sokka said bluntly. We all stared him with blank expressions. "What, I wasn't the only one thinking it. No offense Sozai."

"It's alright." I mumbled as I adjusted my glasses.

"So is that all she said?" Katara drawled out.

My eye twitched at her obvious persistence. "She asked me about romance, but I didn't want to hear it."

"What? Why not? That's the best part!" She whined.

"To you." I pause. "And possibly Aang."

"Hey!" He sputtered with a reddening face.

"Anyway, I'm just not interested right now. When the time comes I'll be a complete lady about it." I mocked with a slightly bow as I walked.

* * *

We continued to walk until we noticed a large group of people and spotted the man from earlier. "What's with the sky?" Katara asked.

"We're waiting for Aunt Wu to read the clouds that predict the fate of the whole village." He explained.

Aang smiled and pointed to a cloud. "That one kind of looks like a fluffy bunny."

"You better hope it's not. The fluffy bunny cloud forecasts doom and destruction."

I raised an eye brow with a nod. "That's pretty ironic."

"Don't nod." Sokka scolded. "Does he even hear himself?"

"The clouds will tell us if Mt. Makapu will stay dormant for another year, or if it will erupt." A woman explained. I looked up at the mountain I had spotted, before entering the village. It was much more overwhelming now that I saw it from here. I wondered if the mountain had ever shown signs of erupting at all.

"We use to have a tradition of going up to the mountain and checking ourselves." That's actually very dangerous. "But ever since Aunt Wu came to the village twenty years ago, we have a tradition of _not_ doing that."

I smiled in amusement. "Than it's not really a tradition."

"Precisely." He said with a nod.

"I can't believe you would trust your lives to a crazy old woman's superstition." Sokka argued.

Katara grabbed his shoulder and shushed him. "Quiet, she's coming." The crowd cheered as she walked up to her post.

"Mm, bending arrow cloud. Good crops this year, gonna be a nice harvest." People who looked to be farmers started to clap in excitement. "Let's see, wavy moon shaped cloud...gonna be a great year for twins." A pair of twins high-fived each other with a smile and I crossed my arms. I thought about my twin sister, Azula and how I haven't seen her in three years. I suppose that's good news in a way. She wasn't here to torment me or make me feel like I was in some sort of danger.

"Good year for twins." I repeated to myself.

"And a coulis cloud with a twisting end coming off of it. Let's see...the village will be safe for another year." Aunt Wu said and the people cried out happily. I clapped along with them until I heard Aang speak.

"Listen Katara, since your here...I like you, more than normal." He said. Being that the people were cheering to loud and Aang was speaking softly, she didn't hear him. Instead she smiled up ahead at Aunt Wu and ran out front. "Never mind."

Catching him off guard, I put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, buddy."

He looked embarrassed that I had heard him rather than Katara. "You heard that?" I nodded. He groaned. "Oh no."

"What do you mean 'oh no'." I mocked. "Am I not good enough to hear your declaration of love?"

"Don't say it like that." He mumbled.

I sighed. "Aang it's okay. If anything, I already knew. You were pretty obvious."

"Not obvious enough." He said as he watched Katara head back toward Aunt Wu's place.

"It's not you, Katara's just a clueless girl. Teenagers all have tunnel vision and can't see anything else when they want something." His face scrunched up at my answer.

"But, aren't you a teenager too?" The twelve year old asked. I was about to reply, when I spotted Sokka walking about with a aggravated expression. We followed behind the angry Watertribe boy as he walked.

"I can't believe all these saps! Someone needs to knock some since into them."

"They seem happy Sokka." Aang reasoned.

"Not for long. I'm gonna prove Aunt Wu's predictions are nonsense." Sokka said.

"Geez Sokka, just calm down. I'm not completely convinced either, but I'd like to think that Aunt Wu's prediction about a village staying safe is true."

"That's not the point!" He insisted, before he grabbed onto a random man for his attention. "Hey you! I bet Aunt Wu told you to wear those red shoes, didn't she?" I glanced down to his feet.

"Yeah, she said I would be wearing red shoes when I met my true love." The man said happily.

What was with everyone and true love? "Uh-huh, and how many times have you worn those shoes since you've got that fortune?"

The man smiled. "Everyday."

Sokka deadpanned before he exploded into anger. "Then of course it's gonna come true!"

The man looked at him in excitement. "Oh really? You think so? I'm so excited!"

Sokka groaned in frustration before kicking a rock that hit a bird. The angry bird flocked to him making me laugh at his anguish. I'm probably a horrible person, probably.

* * *

It had been a while and Sokka was still set on trying to prove that Aunt Wu was a hoax. "I don't care what Aunt Wu told you! You have to take a bath some time!"

The dirty man smile with a shrug as he walked away."Seriously Sokka, you should give it a rest." I said, patting his shoulder.

He palmed his forehead with a sigh. "It's just unbelievable how they can follow her so blindly."

"Well, think about it. You're trying to speak against twenty years worth of fortune telling. You won't persuade their minds in a day." I reasoned. Sokka seemed to accept my answer, but was still frustrated with the people.

"So...um Sokka? You know some stuff about ladies right?" Aang suddenly asked. I peered at him curiously.

Said boy gave him a confident smile, throwing his arm over his shoulder. "Some stuff? You've come to the right place. What can I do you for?"

I put a hand on my hip and point to the Watertribe boy. "You're going to take romance advice from him? I'm kind of hurt."

"Sozai, this is men's talk, you wouldn't understand." Sokka said with a smirk.

"Didn't Katara say you haven't even had your first kiss; what would you know about girls?" I asked.

"Just butt out would ya." He said.

"Fine." I raising my arms to surrender. "Romance away Cupid."

"Who?"

I rolled my eyes. "Exactly." I walked a few feet away so that I wasn't in ears range to hear there 'manly' conversation. I turned when I saw Meng hiding behind a barrel as she stared at Aang. I slowly crept beside her and squatted down. "What are you doing?" I whispered.

She jumped. "Oh, I uh, didn't see you there."

"Mm." Is all I said as she nervously played with her thick braids. "Why are you hiding over here?"

"I'm not hiding just, just waiting." She bit her lip as she looked back at Aang. I saw Sokka admittedly speak to Aang about women. "You're so lucky..."

"Huh?" I said, glancing back to her.

"You get to hang out with such a cute boy all the time." Meng explained.

I raised my brow. I assumed that she wasn't talking about Sokka. "Who Aang? Yeah, I guess he's a little cutey, but he's my buddy so that's a bit weird to say out loud."

"I see..." She said, holding her hands together.

"Hey, where's the library?" I asked suddenly. She blinked at me. "I'd really like to see your villages collection."

"It's just over there." Meng answered with a confused expression. I guess many people don't ask for a book when you have a fortune teller.

I stood up and looked down at her. "You should go talk to him." She hesitantly nodded before shuffling over to him, before she was completely ignored. Aang walked past with a non-caring attitude. What was that? Meng walked away with her head low and I felt bad for her. I frowned at Sokka who looked at me as if he didn't do anything wrong. Shaking my head I walked toward the library, leaving Sokka to think he actually knew how what girls liked.

When I got inside, I looked happily at the shelves of books they had on display. I was going to have some fun in here.

* * *

After being engrossed in books for what seemed like minutes, I realized that quite some time had passed. Wondering where everyone was, I stepped outside to get some fresh air. Suddenly, Aang and Sokka dropped out of the sky on his air-glider. I looked at them in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Panda-lily! Mountain!" Sokka gasped.

I paused before turning to Aang. "What is he going on about?"

"It's the mountain, we went up there to get a panda-lily and we saw the volcano. Aunt Wu was wrong!" He explained.

"What are the odds?" I groaned before sighing. "Okay, so we should find Katara and tell the villagers what's happening. We'll figure it out from there."

They nodded and we ran around the village in hopes of finding Katara. Finally, we spotted her in front of Aunt Wu's door. "Katara!" Aang said.

"Can you believe this? She won't let me in after all the business that I've given her." She said.

"But she doesn't even charge." He said with a confused look.

She paused. "I know, but still."

"Look we've got much bigger things to worry about." Sokka said. "Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano."

"Sokka, you tried to convince me before, it's gonna take an awful lot to change my mind-" The shook and we all looked up at the dark cloud rising up from the mountain. "Oh no."

We all hurried to the middle of the village. Sokka spoke up first. "Everyone, we have to evacuate the village. Aunt Wu was wrong!"

"Yeah, yeah." A woman said. "We know you don't believe in her."

"Everyone, I want to believe Aunt Wu just as much as the rest of you, but my brother and Aang saw the lava with their own eyes."

The elderly man from before spoke. "We'll I heard Aunt Wu's prediction with my own ears."

The ground shook again and Aang decided it was his turn. "Everyone please listen to us, you can't always put all your faith in predictions. You need to take fate into your own hands."

"Look! Can your clouds explain that?" Sokka asked point to the blackness coming from the volcano.

"Can your science explain why it rains?" The man with the red shoes asked.

I raised my brow. "Actually, yes." The people began to to leave, since they didn't believe what we were saying.

"They just won't listen to reason." Katara said with frown.

"But they will listen to Aunt Wu." Aang said as if he had gotten an idea.

Wait a minute. I smiled, realizing what he was trying to do. "That's the problem." Sokka complained.

"And we're about to use it to our advantage." I said. They looked at me. "You have an idea don't you buddy?"

Aang nodded with a grin. "We need that cloud book she used to predict the future."

"I saw it." I said. "When I was going to get my fortune told. It was in the last room to the right."

"Okay, well go to get the book, but in the mean time we need to make up a plan to top the lava." Sokka said.

"Stop the lava? How are we gonna do that?" Katara asked.

"We can dig a trench!" I suddenly thought.

Sokka nodded seeing that I understood. "If the trench is deep enough-"

"All the lava will flow out to the river." I finished, happy that we had the same thought process.

"If we find any earth benders that could speed up the process." He concluded. "Everyone else will just have to dig."

"Perfect we have a plan now." I said, adjusting my glasses.

Katara looked between us with an expression I couldn't quite identify. I felt like she wanted to say something. However, time was of the essence and we need to get going.

* * *

After Aang took the book from the Aunt Wu's place, he and Katara went to the sky to form the cloud. Sokka led Aunt Wu outside to see that the 'cloud of doom' was near. I was relieved that people were now going to cooperate with us. Soon Sokka told them the plan and we were on our way to dig the trench. I personally glad that the majority of this village were benders. That made the process of digging much faster. Regardless the volcano looked like it was going to erupt at any moment and that scared me.

Aang dropped down at shouted to all of the people. "Alright, that's enough. We'll come and get you when it's safe!" The people began to run and I climbed out of the trench covered in dirt.

I looked up out to the see the lava slowly approaching and I was starting to second guess staying behind. I mean, what was I going to do if the lava over filled the trench? Blow on it?

When the magma started to fill up the trench, I saw that I really was going to overflow. Katara, Sokka and I all ran further away as Aang forced out a powerful gust of wind that dried out that lava in it's place."Wow, that was amazing." I said, genuinely proud of Aang's skill as a bender.

"Sometimes I forget how powerful of a bender Aang really is." Sokka said. I quietly nodded in agreement.

"Wait, what did you say?" Katara asked. I looked to Katara in confusion.

Sokka shrugged. "Nothing, just that Aang is a powerful bender.

She was silent for a moment. "I suppose that he is."

Well, I'm thoroughly confused now.

* * *

When things calmed down, everyone met in the center of the village as Aang confronted the elderly woman. "Um...we kind of borrowed your book."

"Mm, messed with the clouds, did you?" She asked before she laughed. "Very clever."

"I hope this teaches a lesson to everyone about relying to much on fortune telling." Sokka said with a scolding tone in his voice.

"But Aunt Wu predicted that the village would not be destroyed and it wasn't." The elderly man said. "She was right after all."

Sokka stood in front of the man with narrowed eyes. "I hate you."

Somehow this was funny after everything that had just happened, so I laughed. "Yeah, he's technically right Sokka."

His narrowed eyes turned to me. "Sozai, would you quit laughing at everything that happens to me?"

I shifted my glasses with a smirk. "Why Sokka, I'm surprised. Not laugh? Would you rather me cry? I thought you were sensitive to all emotions of a woman."

"Yes young man, perhaps you should speak to Aunt Wu for guidance." The elderly man said.

Sokka was about to explode before Katara steered him away. I turned when I heard someone speak to me. "I see you like to tease."

I looked up at Aunt Wu as she smiled at me. I shrugged. "It's become a habit of mine."

I think I was a bit of a sadist...just a little, it wasn't too serious.

"So any advice for the road?" I asked, holding out my palm.

She didn't even look at it as she said. "You will acquire a...unique relationship down the road."

I raised my brow. "How do you know? You didn't read my palm."

She looked amused. "I didn't have to, it was written all over your face."

"Oh..." I said, unsure of what else to say. I decided not to say anything else and climb on top of Appa. I glanced down to Meng and waved to her. She smiled and returned the gesture. When I sat back I realized that Aunt Wu had said the same thing to Sokka.

He caught me look at him and narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"

I turned away. "Nothing...I guess."

 **Zuko's in the next chapter, promise.**


	11. A Tsundere's Goodbye

I decided that I wasn't going to give Aunt Wu's prediction much thought. It was interesting to hear about, but I wasn't going to take her words too seriously. After all, Aang made a point to say: "we needed to take fate into our own hands", and that was exactly what I was going to do. I didn't decided to stay with Aang and his friends because I wanted to gain any sort of romantic relationship. I was only fourteen after all. I had plenty of time to think about that once I helped Aang save the world. As I thought about it, I felt more and more ridiculous thinking about potential love interests.

"Hey, Sozai why do you keep dazing out?" I blinked at Sokka as he looked at me with suspicious eyes.

"Oh, I was just thinking." I answered as I kicked a rock on the ground.

"About?" He asked. Though I couldn't quite identify the expression he held.

I raised a brow at him, feeling slightly confused. "Why so curious?"

"Oh, Sokka's been like that since we went to see Aunt Wu. He's just worried about your prediction." Katara grinned mischievously. I furrowed my brow. I hadn't thought that they heard that. There wasn't any reaction earlier than now.

"I am _not_!" He sputtered. "Didn't we go over this already? Her predictions are fake and fraud."

"Aunt Wu was right though." I said as Sokka paused and glanced back to me. "I have developed a unique relationship with a certain someone."

"Really?" Aang asked with a curious smile.

"Of course, you haven't noticed?" I replied with smirk.

Aang shook his head. "Can't say I have."

I put my arm around his shoulder."Yes, ever since I've met this certain someone, I've always felt a connection, deep within me." Aang blinked at me, being that I was touching him, I must have been sending the wrong signals. I subtly let go and held my arms behind my back as I walked up to Sokka. He gulped uncomfortably before I walked around him and jumped at the flying bison.

"Obviously the only one that fits is Appa~" I cooed as I hugged his fur. He roared in response and snuggled his side.

Katara sighed. "Oh you're no fun."

I grinned at her response before looking at Sokka. "What's with the face?"I poked his shoulder.

"Nothing, I don't know what you're talking about." He said, crossing his arms and turn his face in another direction.

"Obviously there's something wrong. Otherwise you wouldn't be acting so angsty right now." I piped.

"Am not." He said.

"Are too." I countered, before grinning. "Aw, are you jealous of Appa? It's okay, you can have Momo." As if on cue said flying leemer flew into Sokka's face. He looked as though he would chase me, so I jogged forward a bit before tripping over a rock and sliding down a slant in a hill. I winced a bit when I sat up with a sigh. It never fails for me to get hurt somehow everyday. I was apparently accident prone. Instead of assisting me, Sokka walked over to what looked like large hunting knife and picked it up.

"Sozai, are you okay?" Aang asked, pulling me to my feet.

I nodded. "I'll probably live."

"What's that, Sokka?" The air bender asked.

"It's a Watertribe weapon!" He exclaimed. "Spread out and let's see if we can find anything else?" I patted my aching back and took a deep breath. I walked around to see if anything else was in plain sight like the knife. With my bad eyes, most likely not. I stopped when I heard something snap from beneath my foot.

I picked up a broken arrow from underneath a small pile of leaves. Squinting my eyes, I saw the the tip of the arrow was charred. "I found something Sokka." He walked over and took it from my hand.

"It's burnt." He said, analyzing the area.

"Do you think it might have been a fire-bender?" I guessed. It usually was.

"Maybe." He mumbled, walking over to a tree with scorch marks all over it. "There was a battle. Watertribe warriors ambushed a group of fire-benders. The fire-benders fought back, but the warriors drove them down this hill." Sokka suddenly ran towards a beach and we followed after him. He stopped when he reached the edge of the shore.

"So then what happened?" Aang asked.

" I don't know. The trail ends here." He said.

"Wait look!" Katara said, pointing to a ship docked on the sand.

"It's one of our boats!" Sokka said, running toward the ship. We ran after him and Katara as they smiled excitedly.

"Is this dad's ship?" She asked.

"No, but it came from the Southern Watertribe." He grinned. "He was here."

* * *

Zuko sat down with his uncle as he watched him drink tea. The elderly man sighed with a calm expression. How? He didn't know. He couldn't do the same. His sister was off who knows where, possibly getting herself hurt, like always. Not to mention she was most definitely with the Avatar. He still resented the fact that she betrayed him and he would pay her back ten fold for that.

"You see Zuko, sometimes it's nice to sit back and relax." Uncle said.

Zuko reluctantly brought the cup to his mouth before the ship abruptly moved, spilling the liquid all over him. He grunted in irritation slamming the cup down and going up top to see who dared to make such a racket. He looked up to see a woman on top of a large beast.

"Get back, we're looking for a stowaway." She said.

The Prince frowned. "There are no stowaway's on my ship." Of course there wasn't, he would know. The woman ignored him as the beast ripped a whole into the metal and ducked down to search. Suddenly, a man crawled out of the whole and made a run for it. The beast quickly caught up and it's tongue hit him in the neck.

"He's paralyzed." Zuko said in surprise.

The woman easily slid off the beast and picked up the man. "Only temporarily, the toxins should ware off in about an hour, but by then he'll be in jail and I'll have my money."

"But how did you find him on my ship?" The prince persisted. It was peaking his interest, despite the fact that the woman had damaged his ship.

"My Shirshu can smell a rat a continent away." The woman said with a smirk. She then pulled herself onto the animal and leaped off the boat and down the docks.

Uncle smiled mischievously. "Well I'm impressed, very impressed."

Zuko glared at his uncle before turning back to where the beast had damaged the boat. If that thing could do as she said, imagine how quickly he could find the Avatar. He tightened his fist with determination. He would get the Avatar and if his sister was there, he would take her back as well. Even if she had to be a prisoner.

* * *

We decided to make camp by the Watertribe ship in case any stranded warriors had wandered about the area. Katara and Sokka looked hopeful that someone might so it didn't hurt to wait it out. I yawned as I laid back against Appa's fur, rubbing my eyes. At one point I had fallen asleep, but I wasn't much of a heavy sleeper. I found that when the gang was a sleep I was usually the only one awake. I peered over at Sokka stared into the fire.

"What's wrong?" I whispered, being that Aang was beside me laying on the flying bison's arm. "You aren't going to sleep?"

He shook his head. "I'm not really tired."

"You've got a lot on your mind." I deduced with a nod. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's nothing." The older boy said, twisting a stick into the fire. "Just go back to sleep."

"I can't sleep, your emotions are being to loud." I said, scooting towards the fire. "Besides, I know for sure it's not nothing."

"It's family stuff." He stated vaguely. "I wouldn't want to bother you with it."

I raised an amused brow. "Seriously Sokka? My dad is the Fire Lord, my brother want's to kidnap Aang and my sister...well I won't even start with her. I'll hear anything you have to say, promise." We stared at each other for a moment, before he gave in.

"Fine, when I was little, my dad left to fight against the Fire Nation. I remember wanting to go with him, but at the time I was too young. It's been a long time since I've seen him and I don't...I just miss him and today makes me want to hope that he's okay."

I tucked my knees close to my chest with an understanding expression. "I get what you mean, I haven't seen my mother in a long time either."

"Did she...die?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No...maybe, I'm not really sure what happened to her, but I can only hope she's alright. Your dad too." I smiled at him and he did the same.

The moment was abruptly ruined when foot stepped where heard coming towards us. Sokka jumped up defensively with the hunting knife. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

I squinted my eyes when a man walked up. He had tanned skin and long dark hair. He looked similar to that of the Southern Watertribe. "Sokka?" The mysterious man said.

"Bato?" Sokka answered questioningly. It seemed like the two recognized each other.

"Who the what now?" Aang mumbled as he was pulled out of his sleepy state. Katara looked up with a smile as she knew the man as well.

"Bato!" She called, running up to the older man, along with Sokka. They hugged him as I sat up looking at them curiously.

"Sokka, Katara, it's so good to see you two." He said, holding them close. "You've grown so much."

I decided not to intervene into their little reunion, but Aang didn't feel the same. He attempted to introduce himself, but was ignored. Though I was sure it wasn't on purpose. They seemed to be very happy to see this man.

"Where's dad!" Sokka asked, hopefully.

"Is he here?" Katara piped.

"No, they should be half way to the Southern Earth Kingdom by now." Bato said. The two of them looked down in disappointment, before a chill ran through the air. We all shivered. "Let's go inside, this is no place for a reunion."

They started to walk and I stood to my feet. Aang looked at them as though he was being left out. I rubbed his bald head with a quirk in my lips. "Let's go buddy."

He smiled at me before nodding and walking beside me.

* * *

We all walked for a while, Sokka and Katara spoke of their many adventures. Some of which I wasn't there for yet, so it was interesting to hear about. I was glad they didn't come out and say that I was a Fire Nation Princess. I decided that it was better to listen.

We eventually reached our destination as Bato spoke. "Your father carried me to the Abby and I've been staying with them ever since. They've been very good to me." He called for the woman who looked to be in charge. "Superior, these are Koda's children, they've been traveling with the Avatar.

The woman stepped forward with a kind smile. "Ah, the Avatar. It gives me great joy to be in your presence. Welcome to our Abby."

Aang returned her gesture. "Thank you, it's truly an honor to be here, if there's anything-"

"What smells so good Bato?" Sokka interrupted. I gave Aang an awkward smile as his happy demeanor dropped slightly.

"The sisters craft ointments and perfumes." He explained.

"Perfumes? Maybe we should throw some on Appa, cause he stinks so much. Am I right?" Sokka said with a grin.

I shook my head. "Booo..." I laughed when he looked at me with a frown. "Your face is funnier than your jokes." I smirked when he looked like he was about to retort.

"Oh the quiet one finally speaks." Bato said.

"She's anything but quiet." Sokka mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm Sozai, sorry for not introducing myself." I said adjusting my glasses. "Pleased to meet you."

"...you're Fire Nation, I see." He noted as he looked at my clothes.

"Yes, I am." I stated honestly. There's wasn't any point in evading our lying about it. "Don't be alarmed though, I'm probably more of a danger to myself than anyone else here."

He slowly nodded, satisfied with with my answer. We followed him until he stopped in front of a room and slid open the door. Katara and Sokka quickly went inside, seeming very happy with the scenery.

"Oh wow Bato! It's just like home!" The girl said as her eyes looked over it all.

"Everything's here! Even the pelts." Sokka said.

I slowly walked inside with a skeptical expression. It was interesting to see what Watertribe culture was actually like, but I hadn't expected this. I glanced down at the skinned platypus bear on the ground. I suppose I should be respectful and keep those types of opinions to myself.

"Yeah, nothings cozier than dead animal skins." Apparently, Aang didn't agree with my silent judgement.

Katara lifted the top to a pot sitting in the center of the room. "No way, stewed sea prunes!" I slowly walked over to the pot and took in the strange pungent smell.

"Help yourself." Bato said as they sat down. I slowly did the same, seating myself between Katara and Sokka.

"Dad could eat a whole barrel by himself." He said, poring a bowl and handing it to me. I raised a brow, slowly taking it from his hand. It smelled funny and I wasn't sure if I wanted to risk trying it. I blinked when I realized that I was thinking like a stuck up royal. It was partly true, I was royalty but I didn't want to feel or think like Azula.

I glanced up to Sokka who liked at me expectantly. Taking a deep breath, I hesitantly took a sip.

...I didn't like it.

I calmly put down the bowl and as the older boy looked at me. "You don't want any?"

I shook my head with a thin-lipped smile. "No, I'm not hungry. You can have it if you like." He stared at me for a moment before taking my share and gobbling it all down. I leaned back on the palms of my hands as Katara spoke.

"Is it true that you and dad lassoed an arctic hippo?"

Bato smiled. "It was your father's idea. He just dragged me along, well, the hippo did the dragging."

Aang smiled seeing an opening to join the conversation. "Hey I ride wild animals too. There was this one time when I was on the giant eel and-"

"So who was it that came up with the great blubber fiasco?" Sokka interrupted. Aang looked at him with a frown and narrowed eyes. I gave an awkward cough at the annoyed air around the younger boy.

"You heard about that?" Bato asked with an amused smile.

His sister nodded in agreement. "Everyone knows that story." I haven't, but who cares I guess.

Apparently Aang thought so as well. "What's happened?"

Sokka brushed him off and turned back to Bato. "It's a long one Aang, maybe another time." Said boy looked down with a disappointed frown and I gave him a sympathetic expression. It was obvious that he wanted to be apart of the group, but didn't have much to add. Neither did I, really. I hadn't been apart of the Watetribe siblings lives until recently. He tried to get their a attention a few more times before giving up and secluding himself to the corner.

* * *

Zuko had made up his mind. He was going to find the woman who damaged his ship and make her help him. If that beast was really as remarkable as she made it out to be than he could find the Avatar in no time at all. Sozai as well. If she had stayed with the Avatar and he know she did- then he would have them both and could head home. He still felt some resentment toward her for leaving him, but wanting her back overshadowed that. Somehow before he hadn't realized how quiet it could be with her not around to yell at him and just blatantly annoy him.

He shook his head and headed toward a tavern. Zuko had demanded the location of the woman and found out that her name was Jin. She was known to stay at bars and after he threatened a man for her location, he immediately walked her way. However, there was a large crowd of people blocking his way. He glared and pushed them aside.

"Out of my way filth. Step aside!" He spat as he sauntered up to the black haired woman. She was in the midst of arm wrestling a man. "I need to talk to you."

She slowly rolled her head over to the him before turning back to her arm wrestling match. "Well if it isn't my two favorite people. "Angry boy and uncle lazy." Zuko frowned at her response while his uncle laughed. Jin slammed down her opponents hand and the crowd of people cheered, throwing money her way.

"Your beast trashed my ship, you have to pay me back." The prince demanded.

She gathered together her winnings and looked up at him. "Aw, I loved to help you out, but sadly I'm a little short on money." She paused. "Drink's on me." The tavern cheered once again and Zuko narrowed his eyes. He snatched her hand just before she went to take a drink.

" _Money_ isn't what I had in mind."

When they met outside, Zuko pulled out the Watertribe girls necklace and held it out to her. "I need you to find someone."

"Who, your girlfriend run out on you?" She asked with a smirk.

Zuko glared. "No, not the girl. The bad monk she's traveling with."

Jin rolled her eyes with a shrug. "What ever you say."

"If you do this, then I'll consider the damages you caused to my ship paid."

She held a blank expression before frowning and turning to mount her beast. "Yeah, forget it."

"Plus...we'll pay your weight in old." Iroh added. She slowly turned to the older man and smirked.

"Make it your weight and you've got a deal." Uncle laughed and agreed to her terms.

"You've got it"

"Also, there is a girl." Zuko said, not sure if he actually wanted to inform this stranger on his circumstance.

She grinned in a tautning manner. "So it is a girlfriend?"

Zuko looked at the woman in utter disgust. "No, my sister. I need her found as well. She's most likely traveling with the monk."

"Fine, but it will cost you extra." Jin took the necklace from Zuko's hand and held it out to the beast before she jumped on to it's back. "Get on."

* * *

The stories that Bato told were interesting, but I felt like I wasn't really able to interacting with anyone. In this, I understand how Aang felt. Finally they all seemed to have something else to talk about besides fond memories.

"There's something I have to tell you kids. I'm expecting a message from your father." He informed. Sokka and Katara leaned forward with excitement in their eyes.

"Really/ when!?" They both said at the same time.

"Any day now." He paused. "Your father said that he would send a message once they found the rendezvous point. If you wait with me until the message arrives, you can come with me and see your father again."

"That would be amazing! Katara!" The older boy said with the widest smile I'd ever seen.

"It would be nice to see him again." She agreed.

"It has been a long time." Bato added with a nod. I saw that Aang left quickly after he said this.

Suddenly something inside me felt a bit nervous and I didn't like it. Did that mean that Sokka...and Katara would leave with their father? I suppose that would be understandable. Sokka did express that he hadn't seen his father in quite a long time. If we separated then I would go with Aang to the North Pole, but what about after that? Would I stay with him? That would be the most logical option. He would still have to learn two other elements and I stay with him.

"That would be great and all, but we have to take Aang to the North Pole first." Sokka said.

I blinked at his response, somehow feeling relieved. "Even if we had time to wait for the message who knows how far we'd have to travel. We don't have time for a detour." Katara explained.

"I'm sure your father would be proud that your helping the Avatar on his journey." He said with a understanding smile. Bato looked at me and I stared back at him. "Sozai, that's an interesting name."

Aw, Bato was trying to talk to me. He probably noticed that I hadn't said more than three sentences since I got here.

"Yeah, remove the 's' and you've got the tyrant dictator knowing as the Fire Lord." Sokka said with a teasing grin. I narrowed my eyes. He was probably trying to get back at me from earlier.

"Yeah your right." Katara said. "I actually never noticed that before."

I shrugged trying to shake off my uneasiness. "Yeah, my father name me after himself as well as my great grand father."

Bato raised his brow. "Your father's name is Ozai? Is that a common name in the Fire Nation?"

"Ah...I'm not sure...I've only known my father to have that name." I stated awkwardly. Here I was trying to explain to a Watertribe rebel that the Fire Lord was my father. "You see..well I'm uh..."

"Her dad is the Fire Lord." Sokka said bluntly. "Can you believe it?"

"That is quite the coincidence." Bato said. I felt like he was looking at me with new judgmental eyes. He already seemed put off that I was Fire Nation, now he probably resents me. I resisted the urge to frown at the boy who revealed my identity. "How did you all come to meet?"

"Well, Katara, Sokka and Aang knew each other before I came into the picture." I explained. "It's a kind of a long story."

"Pff, no it's not." Sokka countered. "Sozai took one look and knew she had to know me."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, just seeing you plummet from thirty feet in the air, head first into snow, I immediately though: 'Hey, I should spend some time with this guy'."

He glared at me with his blue eyes and I found that I was actually enjoy our argument a bit more than I should. Sokka opened his mouth to retort, but Aang opening the door interrupt him.

"Hey everyone! Sorry I was gone so long." He said with a wide smile. I raised my brow at his behavior; somehow he seemed nervous.

"Hey Aang, we hadn't noticed you'd left." Katara replied. I did.

"Yep and now I'm back." Aang quickly sat down and picked up a left over bowl. "I sure could go for some stewed sea prunes!" He swallowed the entirety of the bowl at once before slightly choking. What was even happening right now?

* * *

The next morning, Bato continued to have exciting conversations with the Watertribe siblings. I decided to accompany Aang. He looked like an abandoned animal for most of last night. Well, until he got back from his walk. He had been acting a bit peculiar and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. At the moment I was helping Aang feed Appa. I bunched up a large stack of hay and trotted over to the bison's mouth.

He gladly opened his mouth and I smiled as I patted his head. Glancing over to Aang, I saw him slowly air bend a large pile of straw into the bison's mouth.

I raised a brow in amusement. "That works too." We grinned at one another before I saw a crumpled piece of paper on the ground. "What's this?"

He quickly grabbed it off the ground and held it behind his back. "It's nothing."

Narrowing my eyes, I walked over to him. "It can't be nothing if you're acting like that. Come on, what is it?"

"It's really nothing." Aang said as I continued towards him. He started to step backwards.

"If it's nothing than why can't you show it to me?" I asked with an interrogative tone. Aang and I stared at each other before I let out a sigh. "Fine, you win...I'll drop it." I took a peek at him from the corner of my eye. He started to relax, seeming to take my word for it.

"Just kidding!" I said, jumping at the younger boy and holding him down.

"No wait!" He said struggling to keep his composure. "You can't! It's a..a...letter...t-to Katara!"

I stopped my attempt to take the paper and stared at him. "Like, like a love letter?"

His face turned red as he turned away with an expression I couldn't explain. "I uh...was too embarrassed to throw it away...so I've kept it..."

A grin gradually formed onto my face. "Aawwww buddy! That's cute. So I can't read it?"

"NO! I-I mean...it's to uh embarrassing." Aang mumbled out.

"Mm, well alright." I finally gave in, feeling satisfied with his explanation. I stood to my feet and pulled him up with me. "Let's go find the others."

He nodded and we saw Bato talking with Katara and Sokka. "What's going on?" Aang asked.

"We were all going to go check out Bato's ship." Katara said.

"You're welcome to come along." He said, glancing my way. That made me feel good. It let me know that my circumstances wouldn't dictate his opinion of me. We all left the temple and walked down to the beach to look up at the boat. "My father built this ship, so it has sentimental value."

I examined it with an approving nod. "It's skillfully crafted, your father had talent."

"Yes he did." Bato said with smile. I grinned in response.

"Is this the boat dad took you ice-dodging in?" Sokka asked in curious excitement.

"Yep, it's got the scares to prove it." The older man sighed in contempt. "What about you Sokka? I'm sure you've got some stories about your first time ice-dodging."

Sokka looked down with a sad frown, before Katara explained. "No, he never got the go; dad left before he was old enough."

"What's ice-dodging?" Aang asked.

"It's a right of passage, when you turn fourteen your dad...uh you know what your about to find out." Bato said with a smile.

* * *

We were soon on the water and I looked around the ship with curious eyes. I'd never been on a Watertribe boat before, so this was a new experience for me. "Excuse me Bato?" He looked over at me. "Ice dodging it's self is quite a self explanatory concept, but why is it so important?"

"Ice dodging is a ceremonial test of trust, wisdom and bravery. In our village we braved through a pillar of ice burgs." He explained. I nodded in understanding. It was to develop desirable attributes of human characteristics.

"How are we suppose to ice dodge without ice?" Sokka questioned.

"You will be dodging those." Bato said, pointing to the terrifyingly sharp rocks. "Sokka, you steer and call the shots, lead wisely. Katara, you secure the main sail. Remember the winds can be brutal, so brave. Aang, you control the gibe, without your steady hand we all go down. Your position is about trust."

Aang blinked nervously. "I know that! I'm the Avatar, I know about trust!"

I raised my brow in confusion about his out burst before I realized that there were only three categories. "What about me Bato? Do I just sit this one out?"

"Well, yes and no." He stated honestly. I looked down in disappointment. "But, there is something else."

"There is?" I asked hopefully, wanting to contribute to the task.

"Part of of the ceremony is depending on one another. You will be that dependability as well as loyal. If you are urgently needed you must be brave, wise and trustful. I'm sure you can do that."

I smirked at his flattering definition of doing absolutely nothing. "Alright, I understand."

I decided to sit down next to the man and watch as the gang steered the boat on their own. I was taking no part in the experience, but it was interesting to observe nonetheless. Sokka yelled out commands which Aang and Katara confusedly complied to. I leaned over the front of the boat the see that they had narrowed through a good portion of the rocks.

However, I quickly paled when I saw a greater mass coming into view. "Ummm, we should turn around Sokka."

"No, we can make it! Katara bend as much water as you can and Aang blow wind into the sail now!" He yelled and they did as he said. I nervously looked over the nose of the ship as we glided over the rocks without a scratch. I smiled back at the group to see what they had accomplished.

When we got back to the shore Bato began to congratulate our victory against the terrifying rock. Despite the fact that I made no contributing whatsoever, I was happy. I moved my bangs and he drew a strange mark on my forehead. I grinned widely as the older man moved to Aang.

"For Aang the mark of trust. You are also now an honorary member of the Watertribe." He said and I furrowed my brow at Aang as he looked guilty.

"I can't." He said, with shame in his tone.

Katara smiled. "Of course you can."

"No, you can't trust me." He rubbed the mark off his forehead.

"Aang what are you talking about?" She persisted.

He slowly pulled out the crumpled piece of paper form earlier. "A messenger gave this to me for Bato. You have to understand, I was afraid-"

"This is the map to our father!" Sokka yelled angrily. "You had it the whole time! How could you? You can go to the North Pole on your own! I'm going to find dad."

I looked at Aang with wide and betrayed eyes. How could he lie to me? He lied to my face, he had a chance to tell the truth and he didn't. I believed him and what makes this worse, there shouldn't be any reason not to. I pursed my lips as he saw my disappointment. I couldn't think of anything to say, besides 'why?'. However, I knew why and somehow I understood, even though I was disappointed. He risked friendship over the fear of being abandoned.

He turned leave before looking at Katara and I. "Are you guys with me?"

"I'm with you Sokka." She said.

I slowly shook my head. "No...I'm...I'm going to stay with Aang." Sokka looked at me with a betrayed and shocked expression, while Katara looked confused. "I left my family in hopes of helping the Avatar. If can't be loyal to them I at least want to do what's right. Dependability right?"

"Fine, suite yourself." He said stomping back towards the temple, along with Katara and Bato.

I watched as they left and I sighed. "Sozai...I...thank you-"

"Aang, just be quiet okay?" I said, looking back at him with a frown. He pursed his lips and guiltily looked down at the ground. "Don't misunderstand me, I am angry at you. You had the chance to tell me the truth, but you didn't."

"Then why stay with me, why not go with them?" His eyes were wide and fearful.

"Like I said, I want to do the right thing. However, I understand your motive." I paused. "Besides, there would be no point in going with them. They're going to see their father and I'm not their family. It would be strange to do so."

"Sozai...I really am sorry." He said.

"Yeah I know." I began to walk and he followed behind me with a more depressed pace.

* * *

I propped up what little belongs I had on top of Appa as he stared down at his feet with a sad expression. I knew he did something wrong, but he was just a twelve year old boy who didn't want to be left alone. I knew this because my brother was the same way. Whether he admitted it or not.

"Hey." I blinked when I saw Sokka shifting nervously as he looked at me.

"Hey..."

"You're really leaving with him." He said more than asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, I mean if I didn't go with Aang, where else?" I turned around to him fully when tapped on my arm.

"With us."

"No. I can't." I stated firmly. There was an awkward silence that could be filled, due to our circumstances. "So...this is good bye. I'll probably miss you, you know..."

He blinked at me before understanding.

"I'm probably going to miss you too." He said, pulling on his straps and turning around when Aang looked in his direction. I climbed onto Appa as Katara walked up.

"Good luck you guys." She said.

"Thanks."Aang said.

"Bye Katara." I waved to her with a small smile. It was strange having to say that now.

Said boy looked down and pulled Appa out of the temple as he watch the Watertribe Southerners walk in the opposite direction. Aang sighed. "I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

"No, just a misguided." I replied.

 **I didn't feel like doing it all at once so here's the first part. Second is coming out soon, so please review.**


	12. I Am An Eternal Flame Baby

**I was watching Steven Universe and that's why that's the title of this chapter. I love Sapphire.**

Aang and I hadn't spoken since we left the Abbey. It was awkward enough as it is and I couldn't think of much else to say. He lied to me, but I wasn't angry anymore. I just didn't know how to confront the issue. We were suppose to be friends, but it wasn't like I knew everything about him and vis versa. Was this how it was going to the entire way to the North pole? If so, I wasn't going to deal with it. I decided I had to try and lightened the mood despite my disappointment in the boy. I looked up at Aang's back and I could tell that he was ashamed in himself as well.

I decided to just take a chance and break the awkward silence. "Hey, so it's going to be you and me now so you _have_ to talk to me. I mean, you don't have to but it would be weird if you didn't."

He turned around and blinked at me before looking down with pursed lips. "I didn't think you would want to. I messed everything up."

"Yeah you did." Aang winced at my blunt statement. "But staying mad at you forever is pointless and stupid."

"Really?"

I nodded. "I mean what kind of partnership would this be if we just bruited at the dumb things we did?"

"It was pretty dumb wasn't it..." He said slouching his shoulders.

"Yes, but you know what I forgive you." Aang turned to me with a grateful expression. "This is just one of the many mistakes you'll make before becoming an amazing avatar."

"Many mistakes?" He sounded almost disappointed at my prediction of his future actions. I didn't mean to hurt his feeling. It obvious he would make mistakes, like any other human being.

"Of course all avatars made mistakes, but I think only the best own up to them." I adjusted my glasses with a smile. "Not that I've known any besides you."

"Thanks, Sozai." He said, looking down at his shoes. I patted his shoulder.

We were at the beach on top of Appa as we talked quietly for a bit longer before Aang decided we should get ready to leave.

The monk sighed. "I guess it's time." I decided not to say anything else, seeing as if I said anything else it might ruin the lightened mood.

As Aang turned to leave the, Mother Superior from the Abbey quickly came up to us."Avatar you must leave _now_!"

The boy frowned. "Okay, okay, I get it. Everybody wants me gone."

I furrowed my brow with confused curiosity. She seemed to be anxious. There must be something wrong. "What's wrong?"

"A group of people came to the Abbey looking for you!"

Aang and I looked at each other before he asked. "Who?"

"A fierce looking woman with a horrifying monster and a young man with a scar."

A scar? It must be my brother. "Zuko." I mumbled with a grimace. The way they left things before was abrupt and I didn't really want to see him. However, if he was here he's already causing chaotic danger.

"The beast was using the sent of a necklace to follow you."

"A necklace?" Aang questioned in confusion.

"Oh no Aang, Katara!" I yelled. Zuko had never given back the necklace and now they were probably in trouble. "We need to get back there asap!"

Aang nodded as he yelled. "Yip-yip." The woman made small protest that it was dangerous, but the boy wasn't having it. Somehow after everything that has happened I felt nervous and scared. I knew that Uncle wouldn't feel any spite. However, I had betrayed both of them to stay with the Avatar.

As we came closer to the Abbey Aang suddenly stood up. "What are you doing?"

He picked up his staff and turned to me. "I don't know what's going, but it might be dangerous since you don't fight. I'll meet you down there, so stay with Appa and he'll protect you."

I wanted to object, but I knew he was right. I can't fight and there wasn't much I could do in combat. "Fine, but be safe."

Aang jumped off Appa and flew down closer to the Abbey. I sighed as I patted Appa head. "Just you and me buddy. Let's go see what's happening."

The bison roared in agreement and as we neared, I saw the wild beast that Mother Superior spoke of. I had never read about them before, so it would be interesting to get a closer look at the creature. That is if it wasn't causing the current commotion. As we flew over the Abbey I saw a woman riding on the monster attempting to charge at Aang. The boy turned around almost overwhelmed at what to do.

"Let's stop her." I said with narrowed eyes. Appa seemed to agree as we charged directly into the side of the beast. They crashed into a building, caving it in as the wall crumbled over it. I winced at the damages. Maybe we shouldn't have started a fight in a temple. I rubbed Appa's head with a conflicted smile. We had helped, but caused eminence damages as well.

I turned to Aang who smiled gratefully and I shrugged, feeling unsure as what to do next.

Then I saw Sokka and Katara laying limp on the ground. "Are you guys okay!"

"Yeah, we're fine." Katara grimaced.

"What happened?"

"That thing has the ability to paralyze with it's tongue. We got hit." Sokka explained, seeming unable to move his body to look up at me.

"I see." I said with a frown. The creatures tongue must have some sort of venom.

"Sozai." I heard an aggravated voice call from behind me. Zuko glared at me with a frown. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" I countered.

"It looks like you're making a huge mistake."

"Funny how a mistake never looked better than this moment." Well probably not _this_ moment, but I wasn't taking it back.

My brother frowned deeper if that was even possible. His hands lit with fire. "You betrayed the Fire Nation, the Firelord and me."

"I'm doing the right thing, stop making it sound so dramatic." I scoffed. "You sound more like Princess than I do."

This seemed to make Zuko angrier and Aang could tell. The boy took advantage of this moment to swing out a gust of wind to knock Zuko back. This brought the Princes attention back to the Avatar and he grunted in frustration, firebending aggressively.

"Hey girly, the was a sucker move you pulled there." I glanced up to the woman who was climbing on to the beat once again.

"Yeah, well so is this entire situation." I stated bluntly. "Why are you doing this?"

"For money." She said with a shrug. "But that hit hurt, so I'm going to have to pay you back for that."

I tensed a bit, but I didn't want the woman to know I was scared. So I decided to say nothing at all as she charged toward me. Appa roared as I pulled on his straps and he leaped over the beast. However, he was slashed on the leg and he slammed straight into the ground. I jolted, trying to hold on to the bison.

"Appa! You alright, buddy?" I asked as he struggled to get up, before falling back down. I looked up at the woman as she smirked. I frowned. "Come on Appa, I really need you right now. We gotta help Aang and the others."

The bison opened his and stood up as he growled at the creature and the unknown woman. I held onto Appa's straps as he charged full speed. I almost lost my grip on the bison as I felt the hard collision of the two animals. The black haired woman flew through the air and landed with a loud smack on the floor. The large beast fell back and I squinted my eyes to see that it's face closely resembled a badger-mole. Now that I really got a good look, I realized that it didn't have any eyes either. It was blind. Obviously.

"That's it!" I yelled aloud. "Appa hold 'em off for me! I know how to help!"

The bison roared, in which I assumed was a yes. I jumped back when the mysterious woman attempted to pick up her whip in my direction. I winced back as Appa stomped down his foot on her weapon, cracking the ground in the process. I smirked at the her and ran toward Katara and Sokka. Mother Superior was also standing next to them with a fowl smelling perfume.

Before I reached them, I heard Appa roar. The unknown woman had gotten back onto her beast and Appa was paralyzed on the ground. "Oh no, I'm sorry buddy."

She looked over at me as I said this and I nervously ran the rest of the way. Aang seemed to have distracted her enough and I was grateful for that. Once I stood infront of them I blurted out:

"Hey you guys, I know how to help! Th beast is-"

"Blind, yeah I know." Sokka interrupted as he began to move his arms and legs.

I raised my brow. "So I'm assuming you already have a way of stopping the beast?" He and I always seemed to have the same thoughts about solving a problem.

"Yes, I have an idea." The boy said, stretching his stiff limbs. "That thing sees with it's nose, so lets give it something to look at."

"The perfume?" Mother Superior asked. Sokka nodded with a grin.

We all quickly picked up many different kinds of scented perfumes, so that the animal would become frazzled and confused. Hopefully none of us were hit in the process by the poisonous tongue. I decided to keep that thought to myself so I didn't jinx the whole plan. While Zuko and the woman were fighting Aang, Katara got in position to bend the perfume onto the beast. It looked like it was working as the animal became less aware of what was around it. This seemed to frustrate it as the beasts tongue shot out and slapped Zuko in the face along with the woman.

I smiled in satisfaction as the beast ran away. This was revenge for paralyzing Appa. I walked over to them at a safe distance, before raising my brow.

"Uncle you weren't hit with the tongue." He opened his eyes and shushed me. This made the woman glare, but she couldn't move to do anything about it. I grinned at this.

"Sozai, what do you think father will say when he finds out what your doing?" My brother said with a frown. He didn't sound angry, but maybe that's just because he was paralyzed.

"Zuko...the Fire Nation is corrupt and father is ruining any good thing that could be said about our country. The sooner you realize that the better." I stated as firmly as I could. "I'm not going with you."

"So that's it. Your really are a going to betray me." He said. It was no longer a question. Just a hurt conformation.

I decided not to answer that. "It's the _right_ thing to do Zuko. I don't want to be apart of what you're doing."

"Well once I take the Avatar, you'll be a prisoner and a traitorous princess." He spat. I knew he meant it, but I also knew that his feelings were hurt as well. However, it didn't stop me from getting angry.

"You're saying that now, but all I can think of is a boy that was accidentally licked by an animal and now he can't move." He made an angry noise and before he could say anything else I turned around and walked back to the others. "Let's get out of here before he's able to move again. I think I made him really mad."

When we all left on Appa I had time to think to myself, but I realized Katara and Sokka were still with us. "Wait...so where is Bato?"

Aang seemed to tense a bit at this. "Yeah, where should I drop you guys off at?" The boys voice was sad and he looked like a puppy.

"Oh where? Mm, the North Pole." Katara said as Aang turned around in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah, we've lost too much time as it is." Sokka smiled.

"So you guys are staying?" I was a bit confused, but secretly exploding with joy. They would stay with us?

"Don't you want to see your father?" The boy asked.

"Of course we do." Sokka replied. "But you're our family too and right now you need us more."

"And we need you." Katara added.

I sighed in relief leaning my head back. "Ah thank the Lion-turtle spirits." They stared at me in confusion. "What? If it was just me and Aang he would have been awkward the entire time. Probably writing poetry on how much he missed Kata- I mean you both."

"No I wouldn't!" He exclaimed with blush.

"So you wouldn't miss them." I let out a fake gasp. "You guys hear that?"

The two looked amused.

"Sozai, stop turning my words around." Aang's face was red and it was hilarious.

"Okay, okay, I'm kidding."

It was silent for a moment before Aang continued to speak. "Katara, I know you miss home...and I wish I could do something about it."

"Don't worry Aang." She said. I wonder where he was going with this?

"Maybe I could, maybe with something like this!" He pulled out Katara's necklace. The girl looked ecstatic.

"Aang! How did you get this?"

"Zuko asked me to be sure I got it to you." Aang joked with a smile.

Katara decided to play along. "Oh, that's so sweet of him. Would you give him a kiss next time you see him?"

"Sure." Suddenly Katara kissed the boy's cheek and his face turned red.

"Oooooohhh." I taunted with wide grin. "That was sweet." His face turned redder.

The girl rolled her eyes with a smile. "I'm just thanking him, Sozai."

"Yeah, I know. It's fun to see him blush." I poked Aangs cheek.

"I'd like to see you embarrassed for once." He pouted.

"Pff, I'd like to see that too. I'm pretty sure I'm invincible." I joked.

"I'll take up that challenge." Sokka said. I stopped and slowly looked at him. He blinked before realizing what he said. "I didn't mean it like that! I only meant I could embarrass you."

"Oh." I said trying to keep it casual. Aang and Katara looked in interest. "Well alright, I don't blush easily. So you'll have to try _pretty_ hard."

"Is there a time limit?" Katara asked, seeming to becoming more curious at the sudden bet proposal.

"Yeah, that would make the trip more fun." Aang said.

I shrugged. "I don't see why not. How about until we reach the North Pole?"

"That's a few weeks right?"Sokka asked, before smirking. "Alright I'm in."

"So what does Sokka get if he wins?" Aang was really ready for me to be embarrassed. This must be his plot to get revenge against me for all of the teasing.

"Who says Sokka will win. I have a steel trap of emotions." I said adjusting my glasses.

"Okay Sozai, sure. What do I get _if_ I win."

"Mm, I don't know..." I said with a shrug. "This is a sudden bet. I need time to think about it."

"Oh I know! How about the loser has to do what ever the winner wants for a whole entire day." Katara suggested with a smile. I saw her face anticipating the entire game. She;s probably been waiting to say that since it was suggested.

"That's a good idea." Aang said.

I narrowed my eyes. "You just want me to lose." He didn't say anything. I knew it."Fine. You have yourself a bet. If I am embarrassed in anyway by you and you're the cause...then you win. _But_ since I don't see that happening I'll just wish you luck."

"I'll do the same for you, but be prepared!" I could tell he was scheming already.

Somehow I was starting to regret this bet for the sake of entertainment...well what could possibly happen?

 **Hey, it's been a while. I'm here though, you know if you care. The chapter is really short, but I hope you still kind of liked it. I'm sorry if you don't.**


	13. The White Lotus

"Aghhh, I'm so hungry." Sokka complained for the millionth time in the last hour.

We had begun walking because Appa was tired from flying the entire day. Now we were wandering through a forest and none of us were sure of our exact location at the moment. This was something I noticed happened a lot with the group. It was complete contrast of when I traveled with my brother. Zuko never knew where the Avatar was and Aang never knew where he was at all.

Though I couldn't say I was much help. "We all know you're hungry Sokka."

"Well I'm a growing boy, I need my nutrients." He continued.

"Eat some grass or something." It was meant to be a joke, but Sokka looked down at the ground as if he was actually considering it. "I was just kidding."

"I knew that..."

I made a face at him before turning to Katara. "Lets hurry up and find your brother some food so he can stop complaining." She smiled at me as if she knew a secret. I raised my brow. "What?"

"Nothing, how is the bet going?" She asked curiously. I blinked. Now that I really thought about it. Sokka hadn't really done anything at this point and I was start to wonder if he had forgotten about the bet.

"I'm not really sure." I said with shrug. "Maybe he forgot."

Katara shook her head. "Sokka's not one to forget, especially a bet."

I furrowed my brow. "If you say so. Do you think he has something planned?"

The girl seemed to be contemplating whether or not she should tell me. "I think he's analyzing you."

"Analyze?"

"Yeah, to see what makes you tick." She continued. "If he can find out what makes you nervous than he might have a chance"

I narrowed my eyes. "So you think Sokka is going to win?"

She raised her hands with a smile. "Only if he finds out what gets you flustered. I'm not picking sides."

"But you _think_ he could." I questioned further. Katara decided to shrug rather than give a definitive answer. "Well I guess I'll have to keep up my guard."

I glanced back at Sokka who immediately turned his head to another direction and began to fake whistle. He peered over at me as if nothing happened. "Sozai, you're staring at me _pretty_ hard. Is there something you need to tell me?" His voice was excitable and I rolled my eyes.

"That's not going to work, I'm not Aang."

"Hey!" The boy yelled.

"No offense."

My tone didn't falter Sokka's dopey smile. "I'm just getting started." My sister teased me plenty when I lived in the palace. Some was in front of father and he sometimes even smirked at the girls back handed comments. So I doubted that Sokka could actually find some way to embarrass me.

"Hey what's that?" Aang suddenly asked.

It was a small display hut with several pieces of information. "This should give us a good idea of what's around here." Katara said with a smile.

"See if you can find a menu." Her brother said looking through empty food bags.

"I bet we'll find something to eat here!" Aang pointed at a poster. "The fire day's festival."

I adjusted my glasses looking up at the flyer. "I didn't realize it was that time of year already."

"You've been there before?" The younger boy asked.

I nodded. "When I was little we went all the time. There's cultural stuff, magicians, and demonstrations of firebending techniques. It was actually pretty fun."

"Really?" He asked with an excited smile. "This would be a great place for me to study actual firebenders."

"You might want to rethink that." Sokka said, pointing to a notice with Aang on the right side.

"Hey, a poster of me!" Aang pulled it off the wall and looked at it with cheeky smile. I didn't see how this was exciting. He was wanted and I was relieved to see that I didn't have one yet. Perhaps Zuko and his crew have kept it to themselves that I left the Fire Nation. Though, I doubt I was important enough to my father for him to even bother about my disappearance. The thought didn't sadden me as much as I thought it would.

"A wanted poster, this is bad." He continued.

"We should keep moving." Katara said.

"I have to learning firebending at some point and this could be my only chance to watch the masters up close."

The girl pursed her lips. "I guess we could go check it out."

"What? You want to just walk into a Fire Nation town when there all fired up with, you know, fire?" Sokka said.

"We'll wear disguises and if it looks like there's trouble, we'll leave." His sister reasoned. "Plus, we have Sozai and she's been to these festivals before. Right?" They all looked over at me and I faltered for a moment.

"Yeah...I guess it'll be alright if we're careful." I wasn't sure if this really was a good idea. Aang had a wanted poster which meant a lot of people were looking for him, regardless of the disguise it was still extremely dangerous. However, Aang was the Avatar so it was important for him to learn all the elements whenever he could. So who I was to tell him not to go?

Sokka seemed unsatisfied with my answer and frowned. "When has this ever actually worked out for us?"

* * *

Once it was darker we all walked to the village and stopped at a safe enough distance where it was in eyes view. Aang asked Appa and Momo to quietly wait in the forest while we went to the festival.

"Alright, ready disguises." Sokka and Katara had cloaks so they pulled hoods over their heads. Aang pulled his shirt over his arrow. He smiled and I grinned as I rolled my eyes. Katara giggled at his antics.

"It's like you're a whole different person." Sokka stated dryly. "And what about you?"

I stopped when I realized he was talking to me. "What about me? I don't need a disguise. I'm in a Fire Nation uniform, so no one will suspect me." At least that's what I hoped.

"Fair enough, lets go." Aang said as we traveled toward the village.

Once we were inside nostalgia hit me. I remember walking around with my mother and brother. Of course Azula tried to find every way possible to make the trip hectic, but it was still fun. The fireworks and dragons costumes-

At that moment a large dragon costume ran past us. I smiled at this, but the rest of the group looked put off. Then I realized that almost everyone was wearing a mask. I had forgotten about that part of the Fire Day festival.

"I think we're gonna need new disguises." Katara said.

"Where are we gonna find masks like that?" Sokka wined.

Suddenly a man yelled. "Get your genuine Fire Day festival masks right here!" I almost laughed at how convenient that it was.

The boy blinked. "That was surprisingly easy."

We walked over and I looked the masks over. I had to stopped wearing them when I turned seven because that when I found out I needed glasses. Of course this led Azula to tell me I was not only useless, but that I was blind as well. I frowned at this thought before shaking my head. None of that matters now.

She's not here.

I glanced to Sokka who was looking carefully at the masks. He was probably contemplating which would make him look better. I laughed at the thought and picked up a mask with a sad face.

"Here this would suit you best." He looked at it before giving me a half-hearted glare.

"You-" Before he could finish I slipped it over his head. "Oh, ha ha." His hand brushed against mine since I was still holding onto the mask. I quickly pulled away when I felt a nervousness pass through my chest. I frowned and shook my head before turning around.

 _Well that's new_ , I thought to myself. I shrugged it off.

"Oh look there's some food." Aang said. I was glad when Sokka his mask face away from the mention of food.

He ran toward the food stand. "What do have?"

"Flaming fire flakes." The old man said as Sokka picked up a bag.

He turned to me. "Are they good?"

The extremely hot. I decided not to tell him and nodded casually. "Yeah, there the best you can eat at a Fire Day festival."

He started to eat them before he yelped and pulled up his mask from the heat. "HOT, HOT!"

"Flaming fire flakes, hot." Katara said. "What do you know."

The boy narrowed his eyes at me and I shrugged innocently. "What, they are good...if you have the heat tolerance for them." Sokka staring with a glare.

Looks like he's mad. I turned there attention towards the puppet show. "Oh look at that guys."

It was my father. I remembered my grandfather being presented in the show when I was little.

"Don't worry loyal citizens, I'll protect you."

Yeah, I'm sure you will.

A earth bender puppet came out behind him and the children gasped. I crossed my arms and looked at the display. Suddenly the "Firelord" blew flames at the earthbender and burned it to a crisp. The crowd cheered and I rolled my eyes. I hadn't realized how brainwash the Fire Nation society was. Then again I'd never been in real society until I voluntarily left.

"Wait Aang where are you going?" Katara asked. I turned to see that Aang was was on the move once again. I jogged a bit to catch up with them and he shrugged.

"I don't know, there's a big crowd over there so it must be exciting."

"Knowing the Fire Nation it's probably an execution." Sokka quipped.

"Nothing like that happens here." I scoffed. "It's most likely some kind of act." Hopefully.

We pushed ourselves through the crowd until we were in the front of the lot, looking directly up at the man on stage. He did various tricks with birds and fire. I was thoroughly impressed. Aang seemed to be as well with all smiles and grins at every move.

"Wow, I gotta learn that trick!" He exclaimed.

"Thank you, Thank you." The magician said with a bow. "For my next trick I need a volunteer from the audience."

"OH OH, me!" Aang yelled.

"What are you doing?" Sokka asked pulling down the boys hand.

"I want to get a closer look."

"It's better that we don't attract any attention to ourselves." Katara reasoned. I nodded. She was right. This was already dangerous enough, we didn't need Aang on stage for everyone to see too.

"How about you!" The Magician asked Katara. The crowd cheered and she was soon pulled on to the stage. The man waved around fire in the shape of a dragon and Aang was starting to become nervous.

"We gotta help her!" He cried.

"No!" I said pulling him back. "Aang it's not real fire, I mean it is but it's not actually going to-" Before I could finish he jumped on stage blowing away the fake fire. I slapped my forehead.

Unbelievable.

"Hey! That kids the Avatar!" Someone yelled. Everything that could possibly go wrong right now is happening.

"I think it's time to go." Sokka said wearily.

"Follow me! I can get you out of here!" A man in a cloak said. I didn't know if we could really trust him, but the men behind me were holding spears. He was our best option. We took off and I soon remembered why I hated running. We scurried through crowds of people and I bumped into several people.

Running is the worst! Why did you have to ruin it Aang?

Aang pulled out his bison whistle. "I'm calling Appa!"

"I hope Appa can really hear that thing!" Sokka said. So did I.

"This way!" The man said as he turned a corner. I yelped as I almost tripped when several soldiers blocked our the exit. "Okay not this way!"

We turned around as we were met with a dead end. I turned to the mysterious man in a panic. "Now what?"

Before he could answer, Appa roared and landed in front of us. Never have I been so grateful for this lovable flying beast. "Appa!" I yelled.

Everyone climbed on and the mystery man look a bomb and threw it into the fireworks supplies. Which cause all of them to light up the sky along with a few buildings.

"Nice touch setting off the fireworks." Aang said.

"You really seem to know your explosives. "Sokka added.

The man turned around and took of his hood. "I'm familiar."

"You're a Fire Nation soldier!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Was. My name is Chey." He smiled. "Lets make camp and I promise I'll explain everything then."

We all looked at each other before Aang nodded. "Okay, um, I'm Aang."

"Yes, I know you're the Avatar." He said. "I don't however know your friends."

"I'm Katara and this is my brother Sokka." The girl said politely. However, her brother was looking over the man carefully.

"And I'm Sozai." I greeted kindly. He saved us, so I didn't see any harm in being nice.

"Sozai?" Chey asked. I nodded. He looked me over and seemed to see the resemblance between myself and the Firelord. "Are you related to the royal family?"

"Uh...you could say that." I said with a shrug. He looked more curious than confused. "It's complicated."

"I understand." He seemed genuine about his reply.

I decided that he was a nice enough guy for the moment.

* * *

We soon landed back in the forest and set up camp for the night. Chey started a fire and we all sat around it's warmth.

"So...not that you helping wasn't great and all, but why did you do it?" I asked awkwardly. Though he didn't seem off put by my question.

"I serve a man, more than a man really. He's a myth, but he's real, Jeong-Jeong the deserter. " He said. I raised my brow and began to question what any of this had to do with my question. "He was a Fire Nation general...wait, maybe an admiral."

Sokka seemed to feel my irritation as well when he said, "Yeah he was very highly ranked we get it."

"Yeah! Way up there! He's the first to leave the army and live! I'm the second, but you don't get to be a legend for that. That's okay though." He paused for a moment. "Some say he's insane, but he's enlightened."

That didn't answer my question, but okay.

Aang suddenly jumped up in excitement. "You mean there's an actual firebender that's not with the Firelord? We got to go see him! He can train me."

"We're not going to go see some crazy firebender." Sokka piped.

"He's not _crazy_ , he's a genius." Chey went to explain his point further. "He's the perfect person to train the Avatar. That's why I followed you into the festival."

"Look, we're leaving for the North pole in the morning." Sokka stated stubbornly.

"Sokka please, this could be my only chance to learn from a _real_ firebender."

"It wouldn't hurt to try." Katara reasoned.

The frustrated boy looked at me as if I was his last hope. What was I gonna say? No? I wasn't in charge. It did seem a bit sketchy, but he did save us.

"Well...we went to the festival in hopes of Aang receiving help and in a weird way we got some. I don't see why not."

"Ugh! Of course you don't _see_ why." He said emphasize his eyes.

I narrowed mine at him. "Are you making a joke about my eye sight?

Before he could answer several men dropped down from the trees with spears in their hands. I yelped as one of them pointed it at my neck. "Don't move." He said. I nodded quickly and gulped. "Walk."

We did as he said and started to move. It was silent only for a short while before the man that had scared me spoke. "Jeong-Jeong told you not to look for the Avatar."

"Wait, you know these guys?" Sokka questioned.

"Oh yeah, Lin Yee is an old buddy of mine, right?"

"Shut up." The man spat as he pointed the spear at his back. "Keep moving."

I grimaced, maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. Though I wouldn't tell Sokka that. Considering he always poked fun at me when I didn't agree with him. We walked quietly until we arrived at another camp ground with a small wooden hut by the water. It actually like a peaceful area to live. If you liked solidarity.

"Go inside." Lin Yee said as he pushed Chey forward.

"Oh...uh...maybe we can talk later?" The man said nervously.

"Is that where Jeong-Jeong is? I need to talk to him!" Aang was halted by Lin Yee.

"No." He said forcing Chey down toward the hut. The man nervously talked to himself as he walked down the hill.

Lin Yee escorted us back down towards the camp ground and we settle ourselves on the ground. Once we were left alone. Aang was the only one still standing up.

"Aang can you sit down?" Katara asked.

"How can I when the only firebending teacher I might ever have is right over there." He exclaimed, walking back and forth.

"You don't know that for sure." I said.

"And _you_ don't know it's not." He countered.

"Well, learning all the elements is important, but I think maybe there's a certain order to this." I reasoned.

"No one said I had to learn it in order." Aang said. "Besides it not like he knows I haven't mastered the other elements yet."

"Probably not." I admitted.

"Well I think we should just leave." Sokka added. "You heard what the Lee guy said. The 'legend' said he didn't even want to find Aang."

"It's still worth a try." Aang said stubbornly.

The Watertribe boy sighed in irritation. "Fine, whatever, I'm going to sleep."

I decided to attempt the same and closed my eyes.

* * *

When I heard foot steps closing in on us I opened my eyes. Chey came in and sat down. Judging by the look on his face Jeong-Jeong didn't talk to kindly to Aang being here.

"What did he say?" Said boy asked.

"He won't teach you." Chey replied.

"What? Why not?"

"He's says you haven't mastered the other elements yet."

I blinked in surprise. So he really could tell? This guy must be legit. Now I was actually curious to find out more about this man.

"How did he know?"

"He said he saw how you walked into camp and he just knew." Chey explained.

"Great! Now we can go!" Sokka said with a smile.

Aang frowned. "I'm going in anyway." He march toward the hut.

The boy was being very stubborn, but if this was a mistake he'd have to deal with it. I sighed and laid back onto the ground. I stared up at the stars in silence and waited for Aang to return. Katara seemed to have actually gone to sleep and Sokka was just grouchy. No one was listening to him and I didn't care to talk to him at the moment. Since he always want's to aim his frustrated comments at me.

Not that I don't do the same, but still.

Somehow what he said made me feel self-conscious and I never cared about my glasses before. Even when Azula spited me for them. Weird questions were starting to flood my head.

 _Are my glasses weird?_

 _Do I look ugly?_

 _Does Sokka not like girls with glasses?_

I blinked at the last one before smacking my cheeks lightly. That was ridiculous. Something like that shouldn't matter to me when I'm on a quest to help save the world. Obviously there was a chemical imbalance in my hormones. I decided I was satisfied with my conclusion and ignore that annoying thought in the back of my head.

I was grateful for Aang when he came back with a wide smile and we sat up waiting for him to think. "Guess what, Jeong-Jeong said he was going to train me!"

"That's great Aang." Katara said, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "How did you do to convince him?"

The boy shrugged. "I don't really know. He just suddenly agreed."

"Well the important thing is you'll be getting trained." I said with a smile. The monk nodded in agreement.

"Woohoo." Sokka said sarcastically.

* * *

The next morning I finally met Jeong-Jeong, though I decided not to say anything to him. He looked like a strictly business type of guy. The elderly man spoke to Aang and they seemed as though he was about to train. I looked to Sokka and Katara as they began to occupy themselves. Everyone else seemed to have something to do and I only wish I had a book. I sighed and leaned my fist into my cheek.

 _Perhaps he had books_ , I thought to myself hopefully.

I cleared my throat as Jeong-Jeong looked at me for the first time this morning. His eyes seemed to be analyzing through me to my soul. Who knows, maybe he was capable of that. I mean he even knew Aang hadn't mastered the other elements without even talking to him.

"Um, sorry to interrupted sir, but do you have any books?" He stared at me for a moment before I continued. "I...like to read."

"Reading you say?" I nod. "I do. However, I don't believe it will be of interest to you."

I brightened. "Oh no, I'll read anything!"

"Mm, very well." He muttered. I was surprised when he pulled a small book from his robe. I decided not to question why he held it there. "This is all I have for you."

I slowly nodded before looking down at the book. "Paishou?" I mumbled with a raised brow. Her uncle had the same one. The cover had a symbol of the white lotus tile on the front. "Thank you." Did all old people just have books about Paishou on hand?

The man walked over to Aang. "Hold a wide stance, wider! Bend your knees! Good."

Jeong-Jeong nodded for me to follow him before Aang spoke. "Wait, what do I do now?"

"Silence! Look at your friend, is she talking? Even that ouff knows when to concentrate on what he's doing."

"Hey!" I muffled my laughter holding a hand over my mouth. Sokka spotted this and I turned away innocently.

"But, what am I concentrating on exactly?"

"Feel the heat of the sun, it is in complete balance with nature."

Aang paused for a moment. "...So when do I get to make some fire?"

"Concentrate!" Jeong-Jeong yelled.

This time I laughed out loud as Aang turned to us with red cheeks. I quickly stopped when I saw that he was embarrassed, but I still kept my grin. Jeong-Jeong walked back to his hut as I glanced to Aang. The boy looked frustrated with what he was told to do.

Sitting back against a tree I skim through the book the older man gave me. Oddly enough the book didn't talk much about the techniques of the game and more about ones emotions. Which was a bit strange to me, but I decided it was worth giving it a better look.

* * *

"You're actually reading that thing?" I looked up to see Sokka looking at me with a raised brow. I shrugged. "I really don't have anything better to do, so yeah I am."

The older boy stood there for a moment before sitting down next to me. "So...what's it about?" Why does he even care?

He blinked when I held the front cover to his face. "What do you think?"

"Well, someone is being extra snappy today." He leaned over my shoulder and I scooted away at the contacted.

"What are you doing?" I asked skeptically, holding the book between us. Somehow his shoulder touching mine didn't make me feel comfortable. Not to say that Sokka wasn't my friend, but I felt tense.

He looked me over before raising an amused brow, as if he was onto something. "I'm your friend, aren't I? I just thought I'd see what was so good about the book."

"Well you don't have to sit so close." I mumbled.

"Why so Sozai, could it be...I'm make you uncomfortable or nervous?"

I blinked when I realized what he was actually doing. This was all for the bet. Sokka was trying to figure out what bothered me, just like Katara said. I narrowed my eyes. He wasn't going to win.

"Of course not, I was just caught off guard." Though that was a lie, but he didn't need to know that.

"I see, I see." Sokka nodded as he held his chin. "And if I did, I don't know, this."

I yelped when he suddenly poked my waist with his index finger. I stood to my feet and adjusted my glasses. "Ookay...great."

"What? It's just a little friendly poking, with my friend." He said with a grin. Sokka looked to be having a lot of fun with his teasing. "As a matter of fact, you look like you could use a good hug. What do you say?"

I gulped nervously and stood to my feet. "Uh...what was that Katara? You say you need help with things only girls can solve?" I turned to Sokka who knew exactly what I was doing. But it didn't matter. "Sorry girl stuff, what are you gonna do right?"

"Mm, that's fine." He said with a casual shrug.

 _What did he mean by that_ , I thought with a slight paranoia. I didn't ask and I didn't want to know.

When I was far enough away from Sokka I took a deep breath. I was definitely going to have to keep up my defenses until we reached the North pole. Now I was determined not to lose.

I saw that the sun was becoming a bit dimmer in the sky and wondered how Aang was doing. He had been training for a while, but from what I saw he didn't seem to be doing much more than breathing. As I thought of this, I saw Aang sitting under a tree with a thoughtful expression. He sat cross-legged on the ground with his eyes to the ground.

"Hey, Aang?" He looked up at me and I could tell he'd been thinking hard. "What's up? Why aren't you with Jeong-Jeong?"

"I got mad at him for not teaching me." He said with a sigh.

Well it looked like he calmed down, so that was good. "You...seem to be thinking pretty hard."

The monk looked up at me. "Yeah, I was upset, but now I kind of regret it."

"Oh?"

"All I've been learning is how to breath and stand in the sun." He paused. "I yelled at Jeong-Jeong for it, but then he told me about a reckless student he had. I'm not like that so I just feel frustrated, I guess."

I stood there for a moment before kneeling down next to him. "Aang, you're not reckless, which is fortunate considering you're the Avatar. However, you are impatient."

"I am?" Aang asked.

I nodded. "Which is understandable seeing everything you have to take responsibility for. Regardless, I just think you need to slow down, maybe just a little bit."

The boy seemed to be considering what I had to say. "Jeong-Jeong told me I could destroy everything I care about."

"And you could." I agreed. "Believe me when I say fire can do more harm than good."

Aang sat there for a moment longer and then stood to his feet. "I'm gonna talk to him."

"Do it." I encouraged with a smile.

"Thanks Sozai."

I shrugged. "You're welcome." Though I didn't really do much of anything besides criticize him.

* * *

I plopped down against Appa's side and leaned back against his fur. "Ah, everyone else is doing stuff. It's just you and me buddy." Momo flew down and landed on a tree. "And you too Momo."

The bison roared in response. "Sokka? No, I don't want to spend time with him. He's being a weirdo."

"Aw that hurts me right in the feels." I turned around to see said boy walking in.

"Ugh, why are you here?" I said, though I only halfway meant it.

He raised his eyebrow. "This is my camp spot too you know."

"Fine." I sighed and held up my book so I couldn't see his face. "I know what you're doing."

"And what exactly am I doing ?"

"Sokka, come on. You're obviously trying to win the bet so I can do your bidding."

"I'm not trying, I know I will."

"That attitude of your's will be all the more satisfying when you lose."

"Well you-" Suddenly Katara screamed and we both looked at each other before taking off. Sokka, being the worried brother that he was, ran faster than I did. When I finally got there, Aang was pin to the ground with Sokka on top of him yelling angrily.

I spotted Katara running away holding her hands close to her chest. "What just happened? Why is Katara crying?"

"He just burned my sister!"

"I didn't mean to- I-I'm sorry." Aang stuttered out.

I brushed my hair back and adjusted my glasses. "Aang..." I wanted to yell too, but he looked broken enough already.

Sokka stormed off as Jeong-Jeong walked up with a disappointed expression. "I really didn't think-" The elderly man turned around before he could finish, walking in the direction Katara fled. I wasn't really sure what to say when Aang looked down with a shameful expression and covered his face.

I rubbed my arm and awkwardly stood there in silence. "She'll be okay."

He looked at me with an unconvinced expression. "I burned her, Sozai. She'll never forgive me because I was acting stupid and impatient. Just like you said!" I could tell that this was really bothering him and it should. I wasn't there, but I knew he'd probably done something he shouldn't have. "I was just excited and I did it..."

"Aang, you need to calm down. Freaking out isn't going to solve anything." He looked like he was starting to. "She's not going to hate you. It was an accident."

The boy pursed his lips before shaking his head and standing to his feet. "I'm never using fire again."

"Aang-" He walked off before I could finish. I sighed and shuffled a bit before walking in the direction Sokka stormed. He was squatted on the ground going through our supplies. I knew he didn't really need anything and it was only frustrated busy work. "She's gonna be okay, you know."

"It doesn't change that fact that he burned her."

"He didn't mean it." I quipped.

He turned around and narrowed his eyes at me. "Why are you defending him?"

"Look, I'm mad to but we all can't tackle Aang to the ground out of anger." Sokka frowned at my response. "I'm telling you she'll be fine. I've been burned before and it doesn't scar that bad."

He furrowed his brow. "You have?"

"Yeah, I'm from the Fire Nation. I thought that was a given." I pulled up my sleeve and showed him where Azula had burned me. At the time I was so busy being worried about Zuko - I didn't realize she'd actually given me a serious burn. I jumped when Sokka brought his hand up to the scar tracing his fingers.

The contact was strange, but I allowed him to touch it. I was only trying to reassure him that Katara would be alright.

"Who did this to you?" I blinked in surprise at his question.

"Why do you assume someone did it?"

"Well I wasn't sure, but your answer gave it away." Dang it.

I shrugged as if it was a big deal. "My...sister."

"Your sister?" He asked in surprise. I nodded. "Why?"

Yes, why. "Well...she and I don't really see eye-to-eye." I adjusted my glasses and rolled down my sleeve. He looked like he was going to ask something else, but suddenly Katara's voice was heard.

"Hey you guys!" We both blinked to see Katara sitting on top of Appa. "We need to leave now!" We ran over to her and climbed on top of the flying bison.

"Katara are you alright?" Sokka asked as he looked down at her hands.

"I'm fine now. There healed." She said.

I crawled over to her and tilted my head in amazement. "Wow."

"I'll explain later, but right now we need to get Aang. He's fighting Zhao and Aang is captured."

"General Zhao is here?" I asked with a grimace. I hadn't seen that man since he pushed me to the ground at Roku's temple. I scowled in remembrance.

* * *

When we finally got to the waters, I spotted three ships that were on fire. Zhao was standing in the water glaring in anger. Which I had to admit made me feel pretty good.

"Aang come on! Let's go!" Sokka called. Aang climbed to the front of the bison saying 'yip-yip' as we soon took off into the sky.

"Wait, where's Jeong-Jeong?" Aang asked.

"He disappeared, they all did." He replied. Aw, now I can't return his book to him.

Soon after Appa was steady in the sky Aang hopped to the back of the saddle with us. The boy looked over Katara's hands in amazement. "What- how did you-"

"Like this." She said, holding Aang arms and bending out water from her pouch. I watched as it glowed around her hand and suddenly his burn was gone.

"Wow, that's some good water." He said with a wide smile.

I smiled. "That's really cool. I've read that water benders were capable of healing, but I had no idea it was like that."

She turned to me. "Yeah, I was amazed too."

"When did you learn how to do that?" Sokka asked.

"I guess...I always knew." Katara said.

"Well that's great. Thanks for _all_ the first aid over the years. Like that time I fell into the grease bear bramble. Or that time I had _two_ fish hooks in my thumb!"

"...two?" I asked with a skeptical expression.

His sister grinned. "He tried to get out the first hook with a second one."

I burst out in laughter as he crosses his arms. "It's not funny."

"Yeah, it is."

"No! I was even bit by a minx snake!" He defended with a flustered attitude.

It was horrible, but the way he yelled only made it more amusing. He continued to frown until he thought of something. "Sozai, you still haven't given me that hug."

My laughter ceased immediately. "Uh...hug? I never agreed to that."

"Yeah, what are you guys talking about?" Aang asked curiously.

"Is this about the bet?" Katara added.

"No, I just wanted to give Sozai a friendly hug." He scooted toward me and I frowned nervously.

"This isn't funny."

"Yeah, it is." He repeated what I had said. I looked around and saw Momo sitting on the saddle before I shoved the flying lemur at his face.

"Ak!" He yelled as Aang laughed. This seemed to have distracted him enough for me to reach the steering of Appa.

I sighed. This was harder than I thought. Though, as long as I could throw Momo at him everything should be fine.

 **Mm, not sure how I feel about this chapter, but it was pretty fun to write. So feel free to review.**


	14. Apparently It's Not A Love Story

I stared out into the fire as the older man told a story about air-benders. Personally it seemed more metaphorical than anything else, but maybe I was reading into it too much. I was sitting between Katara and Sokka as the story went on. Sokka looked completely bored with the story and I nudged him when he yawned. It was nice to hear a story if I wasn't able to read one.

He nudged me back and I stuck out my tongue. Katara coughed as it seemed she had caught us both. I looked away from the boy to bring my focus back onto the man telling his tale.

"So next time you hear a large bird talking. It might not be a giant bird, but a flying _man._ A group of secret air walkers that laugh at gravity and those who are bound by it." The story teller said as he seemed to be finished.

"Aren't airbender stories great?" Aang asked with a wide smile. He seemed to be happy that someone was appreciating his culture.

"So was it really like that back then?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, I laugh at gravity all the time." He proved his point by laughing. "Gravity."

"Well, I thought it was pretty interesting. It gave airbenders an _air_ of mystery." I said, wiggling my fingers. The monk grinned at my pun. I glanced over to Sokka who was zoned out looking down at the fire. "What did you think about it, Sokka?"

"Huh, it was good." He said with a shrug and a yawn.

I raised my brow. "Not very enthusiastic, are you?"

He scrunched up his face at my taunt. "Hey, I'm tired. What do you expect?"

"You hear that Aang? Sokka doesn't want to know about your elements culture." I said with a fake disappointed sigh.

"What? I didn't-"

"Jingle, jingle." The story teller said holding up a hat. I had to guess that he expected money, but he would be sadly mistaken to know we were broke. Sokka went through his pocket only to find crumbs and a dead bug. Ew.

"Sorry..." He said, putting it back into his pocket. I furrowed my brow. Why would you put a dead bug back into your pocket? Sometimes the things Sokka did made me cringe.

The man grumbled to himself and walked away. "Ugh, cheapskates." Aang suddenly stood up and walked over to the man. I sighed and leaned back and looked up at the sky. "How close do you think we are to the North pole?"

"Well we haven't looked at the map in a while, but it shouldn't be that much further." Katara said. I nodded and yawned. "It looks like you might actually win the bet."

I turned to her and smiled. "There shouldn't have been any doubt. Sokka embarrasses himself more than anyone else." The two of us laughed as said boy spoke up.

"Hey!" He said. "I still have time, so you'd better keep up your guard." Sokka pointed at me with a knowing expression.

I subtly scooted away, which he noticed. "Yeah, you wish..."

The truth was he wasn't wrong. He did still have time and I was more guarded than ever. I knew it was just a silly game, but it was starting to bother me that I was actually beginning to be nervous around him. Somehow that confused me. He was only one boy. It wasn't like he was any different than Aang and I was around him all the time. Perhaps it was because the monk was younger than myself.

I shook my head. Whatever it was, I just had to make to the Northern water tribe and I'd be home free. Hopefully.

We looked over up at a very excited Aang who smiled at us. "Guess what, the stories were all true!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, there are real air benders at the northern air temple!" He sounded so hopeful.

"Really?" Katara asked. "Did the story teller say that to you?"

He nodded his head. "He said his grandfather saw them! We've got to go check it out."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Sokka asked. Aang seemed to know what that look meant and nodded. I wasn't sure what was going on, but apparently something had happened before.

"Yeah, it's alright to take a look."

"I'm curious too, it wouldn't hurt to see." Katara smiled.

"I've never been to an air temple before, so you can tell me all about it." I told Aang and we grinned at one another. "Looks like you're the odd man out Sokka."

"Yet again." He grumbled. "Alright, let's go see some flying bird men."

Katara yawned. "Let's get a few hours of rest and then we can all go in the morning."

"Sounds like a plan." Aang said as I found a stop on the ground and closed my eyes.

* * *

When the morning came I felt someone shake me lightly as I opened my eyelids. I saw that it was brighter out and everything around me looked fussy. That was mostly because I'd taken off my glasses. I searched around for them, but they weren't where I put them the night before.

"Looking for these?" I turned around to see Sokka behind me, at least I thought it was him. I knew it was his voice.

I sighed. "Can I have them back, please?" I held out my hand waiting, but it seemed like he had another idea. I blinked when I saw him clearer. Realizing that he'd put them on my face his self. He held his usual goofy grin and I slipped back.

"What's wrong?" He asked in a casual tone. "Am I bothering you?"Sokka seemed to sound more and more amused as time went on.

"It's too early in the more for this." I avoided his eyes and turned around, quickly standing to my feet and picking up my sleeping bag. I packed everything up and set it on top of Appa. Turning back to Sokka, he was whittling some piece of wood he found. "I want you to know that I am going to win."

"We'll see." He said, carving off shards of bark from the wood.

"We will." I stated as I adjusted my glasses and turned my gaze back to the flying bison. I patted his head and smiled when he licked my shoulder.

Aang jumped on top of the bison with a smile. "Let's get going guys."

"Someones excited." I said as he helped me up onto the saddle.

"I can't help it. From what the man told me, his grandfather might have actually seen real air benders." The twelve year old was filled with so much. It was cute.

I tilted my head with a grin. "Well let's see what the rumors hold for us, hm?" He turned the gesture and called to the water tribe siblings as they climbed onto Appa. We were soon on our way and took off into the sky.

* * *

I shivered and rubbed my arms. I didn't have anything warmer than the clothes on my back and I was starting to regret that. I glanced to Katara and Sokka who had winter coats, because of course they were from the South pole. I'd never really needed one before because Zuko tended to light a lot of things on fire and we were always somewhere warm. At least we usually were. I grimace and let out a shuttering sigh.

"What's the matter, Sozai?" I looked over at Katara who stared at me with a curious concern. "Are you cold?"

"Y-Yeah." I mumbled. "I'm not use to colder environments."

"You came to the South pole didn't you?" She asked.

"Yes, but I was cold then too. Though I think that was the upside to Zuko's temper, I didn't have to worry about freezing."

"Well we could huddle closer together if you want." Katara suggested and I knew she meant well. I glanced to Sokka whose eyes turned to me.

"We?"

"Yep, you, me and Sokka. Some winters were a bit too chilly to handle back home, so we stayed close to keep warm."

Said boy lowered his carving to join into the conversation. "Yeah Sozai, what do you say? I never did get that hug."

I was suddenly feeling warmer now. "No, I'm fine."

Katara raised her left brow. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay..."

It got awkwardly silent and I hated moments like this so I decided to blurt out anything. "So Aang are we getting close?"

"Yeah I think so!" He said. "This is where they held the champions ships for sky bison polo."

"Oh." I leaned my head over the side of the saddle to look at the snow covered mountain. We were traveling high above the clouds and I had to admit that it was rather pretty, despite being so cold.

"Guys look we're here!" I looked up to see the temple along with several actual flying people.

"Wow! Real air benders!" Katara yelled. I looked to see Aang excited face only to find a frown.

"No their not." He said as he crossed his arms.

"What do you mean? Those guys are flying!" Sokka insisted.

"Yeah Aang, how can you tell?" I asked, squinting my eyes to see them in the distance.

"You can tell by the way they move. Their not air bending those people have no spirit." He said as he continued to frown. I could understand why Aang was mad. He was hopeful to find more of his people, but that turned out to be a dud. Though there was no reason to be mad at people that seemed to be having fun.

"Hey Aang maybe- WOW!" I yelped as a boy in a flying machine zoomed above me and I barely had time to duck. He almost killed me! And he's laughing!

"I don't know Aang, he seems pretty spirited to me." Katara said with a smile.

"Go take revenge for me." I said, adjusting my glasses. He nodded and took off after the unknown boy.

Suddenly there was several other air gliders in the sky, which seemed to be bothering Appa as he roared. This cause myself to be knocked back into Sokka face first. We stared at each other for a moment as I blinked and realized what had just happened. I yelped and crawled back.

"Let's find somewhere safe to land." Sokka said. I didn't look at him as I climbed to the front of Appa and steered us toward down to land. We jumped off of Appa to look up at Aang and the other boy tried to out due each other. I had to say that it was a very entertaining show. The young monk showed off by running on walls and such. While the other boy started to let out a gray colored gas. At first I wasn't sure what he was doing until I realized that it was Aang face.

I laughed and clapped. Though I was also amazed. Apparently the boys name was Teo as the other children were yelling it repeatedly. Teo came down for a landing shortly after again. When he stopped I saw that he was actually in a wheeling chair. I decided not to pay attention to that factor too much since that might be rude. I've never met anyone with a real disability before now.

"Wow, so you're a real air bender?" The boy asked.

"Yes, I am." Aang stated simply.

"Then that means you must be the Avatar. That's amazing! I-I've heard stories about you!" He sounded so excited.

Aang seemed bashful as he rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks."

Sokka came up looking very excited to take a look at the boys chair. "Wow this glider chair is incredible!"

"You think this is good. Wait until you see what else my dad has designed."

We followed the boy inside the temple and I was excited to see the things I've read so much about. The Air Nations culture was so pure and untouched by a lot of things that might have caused it harm. It had statues of many worthy advisories and I was excited to see them all. My smile started to drop as I looked around at all the pipes connected and torn throughout the walls. I looked over at Aang who seemed to be looking at the scenery with solemn expression as well. He'd actually been here when other air benders were alive so I couldn't say I understood what he was feeling.

"Yeah, my dad built this whole place." Teo said and seemed to be really proud of his father. Something else I couldn't relate to. "Everything here is powered by hot air. It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a lift when were gliding."

"This place is unbelievable." Aang said.

"Yeah, it's great right?"

"No, just unbelievable." He said walking off. Oh he must really be upset.

"Aang use to come before all of this, a long, long time ago." I clarified without looking at the boy.

Katara gave an uneasy smile. "He might be shocked at how...different everything is."

"Yeah, you mean _better._ " Sokka said.

I deadpanned. "No, it's not. You're really insensitive."

He looked at me with a questioning expression. "What do you mean?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, unbelievable is right." I walked away as he spoke.

"Wait, what did I say?" I wondered how someone could be so smart and dumb and still make me feel so uncomfortably nervous.

* * *

Teo decided that he would try and make Aang feel better by taking him to a part of the temple that hasn't been touch yet. We walked across a sketchy pathway that made me nervous because of how high up we were. It was different than being on Appa, I trusted the bison. The path was an inanimate object that wouldn't catch my fall if I fell. I was determined to walk faster so not to think about my impending doom.

I was the first to get across and see the unscathed beauty. "Wow this is amazing! Really pretty Aang."

The boy smile in appreciation for the compliment. He took pride in his culture and I knew that from how he's talked about air benders in the past. We looked up at a monk craved into the wall. "At least this part of the temple hasn't been touch."

Moments later the wall was suddenly struck down and I yelped, covering my head. Through the clouds of dust and rubble I saw a man and several others behind him walking in. "Hey! Don't you all know that it's dangerous to wander around construction? We're trying to make room for the bath house."

I looked at the man in bewilderment. He was an older with a monocle, and his eye brows were patchy. Aang looked at the man with anger. "Do you have any idea what you just did! You destroyed something sacred for a stupid bath house!"

"Well people around here are starting to stink." He stated bluntly.

"This whole place stinks!" Aang blew the device that knocked down the wall off the cliff.

"Wow, Aang calm it down." I said.

"No!" He yelled as I winced. "This is a sacred place. You can't use it like this! I was here when the monks were alive and I know what it was suppose to be like."

"The monks, but you're twelve." The man said.

"Dad that's the Avatar." Teo explained. "He came here one-hundred years ago."

"What are you doing? Who said you could be here?" Aang asked in a aggressive manner. I was starting to feel worried that he might knock the man off the cliff as well.

"Mm, what are we doing here?" The man asked more to himself than the younger boy. I listened as he started to explain that this group of people became refugees after a terrible flood. His son was hurt badly. That was most likely the reason Teo was bound to a wheel chair. They needed a place to stay and they found the Northern air temple. Somehow I found it strange that this place was the first thing they found, but I ignored that feeling. I sympathized with him despite having ruined Aang's culture.

"Well would you look at the time." He pointed to three candles. I raised my brow. How was that able to tell time? "The pulley system must be oiled before dark."

"Wait, how can you tell time with this?" Sokka asked. "All the notches look the same."

"The candles will tell us, watch." I walked over to them as I was curious as well. I saw the middle candle pop four times.

"Ooh, I get it. There's spark powered in the candle." I said, adjusting my glasses.

"That's right." The man said with a nodded. "So it's exactly four hours past mid-day or as I call it four o'candle." Sokka laughed and I raised an amused eyebrow.

He smiled. "If you like that, wait 'til you see my finger safe knife sharpener." I blinked when he held up his hand. Three out of five of his fingers were wooden. "It took me three tries to get it right." He pulled the fingers off and tossed them to Sokka. He yelped as I laughed.

"Follow me." He said to Sokka. "You too young lady."

I blinked. "Um, okay."

* * *

I squinted my eyes as we descended down the stairs. The mechanist had give me a lantern, but it wasn't doing much in regards to lights. I suddenly bumped into Sokka.

"Ak!" He yelped in surprise.

"Sorry." I scooting away. "I can't really see where I'm going."

"I know what you mean, these lanterns are terrible." He went to open up the top of the jar and I leaned over his shoulder. "Why would you use fireflies for light?"

"Hey, close that up! They'll get loose." The mechanist said. "Fireflies are a nonflammable light source."

I furrowed my brow. Well yes, that was true, but what in here would be flammable? Teo said that everything was powered by air didn't he? Questions were piling up in my head until we reached a door that was sealed shut. "Cover your nose and hold your breathe."

I did as he said as he opened a slot in the door. I peeked inside, but saw nothing there. "So what's this room for?"

"It's filled with a natural gas." The older man answered. "I encountered it the first time I came down here. Of course, I was holding a torch and nearly blew this place even higher than it already it is. It also took my eyebrows with it. I thought they would never grow back. Anyway from time to time there are gas leaks and there nearly impossible to find."

"So this place is an explosion waiting to happen?" Sokka realized.

"Yes, until I figure out how to locate something I can't smell, touch or see." The mechanist continued.

"That does sound impossible." I mumbled before looking up at the door. "But I mean, have you ever attempted to find a way to locate it?"

He sighed. "Of course I have, but there's only so much you can do without letting the source free."

"Well, maybe we can look it over together." I suggested.

"I suppose we could do that." The mechanist said with a hand to his chin. "Very well, let's head out."

* * *

"Wow look at all this stuff." Sokka said in fascination. When we walked into the man's office I was overwhelmed with everything I saw.

I looked at the shelves and shelves of scrolls. "Yeah, I know what you mean. All this perfect reading material."

Sokka shook his head. "Seriously, Sozai? Only you would go for that first."

"Hey, reading is an essential part of life." I was itching for something new to read. I've looked over that white lotus book who knows how many times. Everywhere else we stopped I haven't been able to pick up a book because we didn't have any money. However, the mechanist told us not to touch anything so-

"Sokka what are you doing?" I whispered harshly. He looked at me as he was grabbing for a contraption out of his reach. "You heard what he said, did you?"

"Oh come on it's just-" As he grabbed for the object making scrolls fall off the shelf and he dropped the device as well.

"Hey, didn't I tell you not to touch anything?" The man asked.

"Yeah, you did." I said with frown towards the guilty boy as a scroll hit me in the head. "OW!" I rubbed my scalp and mumbled to myself, picking up the scattered paper.

"Ah, don't worry. This is just an old project and the eggs were last weeks lunch." I paused. Last week? I grimaced as I was starting to smell the egg. It must have cracked upon hitting the floor.

"Ugh, gross." Sokka said holding a hand over his nose.

"Quickly find that egg." The mechanist said.

I began to search around, beginning to feel sick to my stomach. Why would you keep a rotten egg around? Perhaps he'd forgot about it, but still. I glared at the back of Sokka head. It seemed as though he felt my melting stare.

"What?"

"This is your fault." I said. "If I throw up, it will be on you."

"Well, I don't see how something that smells so bad can be so hard to find!" Sokka cried.

The mechanist blinked. "That's it!"

I tilted my head. "What is?"

"Yeah!" Sokka seemed to understand as well. "If we get a whole bunch of rotten eggs where the gas is seeped up-"

"The gas will mix with the smell of rotten eggs!"

"Ohh," I was finally starting to understand. "then if there's a leak, you can follow the smell of rotten eggs."

"And plug up the whole where the gas is leaking!" Sokka said.

"Genius!" The two said together. I just looked at the two with a raised brow.

Suddenly there was a ring of a bell behind us. "Uh oh, I've got to go!" The older man said in a worried tone. He quickly stood to his feet and ran out the door. Sokka and I looked at each other for a brief moment before following after him. We continued to run until I saw Aang and the others come into view.

My eyes widened when I saw the Fire Nation symbol in front of them all. "This is a nightmare." The young monk said.

"You don't understand." The mechanist said.

"You're making weapons for the fire nation!" Aang accused.

The man didn't open his mouth to deny it and why would he? All of the evidence we needed was right in front of us. "Explain all this now!" Teo said with the sound of anger and his voice. I wouldn't blame him either, that was his own father.

"It was about a year after we moved here. Fire Nation soldiers found this place. You were too young to remember this Teo- they were going to destroy everything. I begged them not to and they asked me what I had to offer, I offered my services. You must understand, I did this for you." Teo looked teary eyed and turned away from his father. The man didn't seem to have much more to say and turned to walk away. He was probably too ashamed.

"How could he keep something like this from me?" Teo said with betrayal written all over his face. "I was so proud to show you guys everything and then all of this happened."

"It's not your fault Teo, you didn't know." Katara comforted.

Aang looked everything over and frowned. "I just can't believe that my peoples' temple is being used so wrongly."

"Well, I'll admit that Teo's father started it, but it isn't completely his fault." I said. They looked at me in surprise.

"You're defending him?" Sokka asked.

"Yes and no." I rubbed my arm. "Look, I think you guys know my father is a tyrant. So I know from personal experience that Teo's dad isn't a bad guy. He just wanted to protect his son. Now I'm not saying it was right to hide it, but what else would he have done? There's only so much you can do against the forces of fire."

Everyone was silent for a moment. "I'll go talk to him." Teo said with a determined expression.

"I'll come with you." Aang said. They walked out of the door and I sighed as I stretched my arms. I suppose that should do it for now.

"That was pretty insightful." I glanced to Katara and I shrugged with a quirked smile.

"No, I just thought that he should it see from a different point of view." I said. "I'd probably have done the same thing if I were him."

"Really?" Katara asked. I nodded. "For Zuko?"

"In a way, I think I already did." I said.

Katara blinked. "What?"

I shook my head with a smile. "No, it's nothing."

"Hey, let's get out of this room." Sokka called as we followed behind him.

I thought of Zuko as we walked out of the room. I didn't hate Zuko for choosing the Avatar over myself. I think I knew more than anyone else why he was so determined to capture Aang. However, I just couldn't be on his side. If Zuko's life was ever truly in danger I'd try my best to help him. Despite being on opposite sides, I loved my brother, I really did. And I'd hope that he would do the same for me if I was ever really in any trouble. I couldn't say the same for Azula. I'm sure If I was hanging off the side of a cliff, she would ask how it benefited her to save me. I frowned at this thought. I think deep down I despised my sister and she felt the same about me. Though I only disliked a memory of her. I hadn't seen my sister in two years. Maybe she hadn't changed or gotten worse.

* * *

Apparently Aang had picked a fight with a Fire Nation soldier or maybe even a general and now their all coming to destroy the temple.

Sokka began to freak out once we were told what had happened. "Oh this is very very bad!"

"Aang what are we gonna do?" Katara asked. "How can we possibly keep them all away?"

The boy smiled. "I'll tell you how. With air power. We control the sky and something the Fire Nation doesn't have. We can win."

"I want to help." The mechanist said.

"Good, we'll need it." Aang smiled back.

I was feeling more relieved now. With everyone wanting to help we could get out of this alive. We met inside of the mechanist's office after he and Sokka were conversing on ideas.

"I finally got the war balloon working thanks to Sokka. He's a genius." He said with a smile.

Said boy grinned. "Thank you, you're a genius."

"Thank you." The older man said. I rolled my eyes with a smirk. They were being silly, but I already knew Sokka was smart. He knew what was going on before I did. I was reader and he was the hands on type. He didn't need to look everything up to know things. I suppose that's one of the reasons why I like him...

Wait, what?

When did I start thinking that way? Let's think about this logically for a moment. Of course I think highly of Sokka, he's my friend. He does tease me and I guess that makes me feel weird sometimes. Getting close too. Come to think of it this is how Zuko was with Mai. Ah man, do I seriously like Sokka? I frowned. I mean yeah he's my friend, but come on. He eats like a pig, snores and keeps bugs in his pocket! Is my brain malfunctioning? There's no way. I looked at the boy as he spoke confidently about the the war balloon. I groaned internally. How dare my female mind feel obligated to like him!

The only question was what was I going to do about it?

Nothing, that's what.

I mean, really. What else would anyone expect me to do in my situation. 'Oh Sokka I like you now. Even though I've given no signs in the slightest before and you probably don't care.' No way. I'm gonna keep it to myself until it goes away.

"Does everyone got that?" Sokka said.

I blinked out of thought. "What?" I was so busy thinking about girly feelings that I didn't listen to what he was saying.

Katara bumped my shoulder and she smiled at me. "Didn't you hear? You're with me."

"Yeah...of course..." I said with lost expression. I couldn't tell her I was thinking about her brother. That would just be weird. I would just have to read into the situation and help the best way I can. After all we're trying to save the air temple, not deal with my feelings.

When we got outside several people went for the gliders and I climbed on top of Appa. After Aang and the others were in the sky I pulled Katara up with me and we flew out and Katara steered us out into the open. I watched the Fire Nation as I flew into view and for a while the plan that I _didn't_ listen to seemed to be working. The soldiers were retreating and it was all-

Katara and I yelped as chain came from under us and flew into the air, latching onto the side of the cliff. Aang tried his best to knock them off but that wasn't working.

"Their relentless." I said with disbelief.

"I think I know how those things work." Teo said as he flew beside us. "I saw my dad tinkering with a counter balancing system. Something to do with water."

"Water?" Katara said.

"If that's it then you can take care of that no problem." I said to the water bender.

She grinned. "Sozai you take over and lower me down."

"Go it." I said jumping to the front and patted Appa's head. "Let's go buddy." We flew down and Katara slid into the snow. I circled around to get away from the shots of fire. When I looked back Aang and Katara were being over run by the machines.

"Full force, Appa!" I said gripping the steering so I wouldn't fall off from the impact. "Ram them head on!" The bison did just as I said, flipping all three of the contraptions at once. I smiled as Katara and Aang climbed on.

"Head back to the temple." Aang said. I nodded and when we got back, Teo spoke.

"We're out of bombs." He said frantically.

"Come on Sokka where's that war balloon?" Katara asked in a worried tone. I was concerned too. If the Fire Nation actually got up here they could capture Aang and turn me into my father all at once. I looked up when I saw the balloon coming up from behind the cliff.

"There!" I yelled as everyone turned around. There was four large bombs attached to the war balloon. The men weren't shooting at them and I could only assume it was because the Fire Nation symbol was on the side.

 _This gave them an advantage_ , I thought.

They dropped the bombs and it only stopped about two thirds of the troops. There was still a portion coming up the hill. Suddenly, something was dropped out of the war balloon and I realized that it was the fuel. What were they thinking? Without that they couldn't possibly stay in the sky. Before I could think anything else there was an explosion and I was knocked off my feet from the rumble. The jolt brought something to my attention. Perhaps that was where the gas was leaking. That meant that they fixed two problems at once didn't they?

Everyone cheered seeing the Fire Nation retreat, but the war balloon was fall out of the sky. "Sokka!" Katara called.

"There going down!" I yelped.

Aang swooped down and saved both Sokka and the mechanist. I was relieved.

* * *

Soon it was time for us to leave. The sun was going down and we had to be on our way. Aang turned and spoke to the Teo and his father.

"You know what, I'm really glad that you all are living here now. I realize that it's like the hermit crab. Maybe you weren't born here, but you found this empty shell and made it your own and now you protect each other."

"That means a lot coming from you." Teo said. They smiled at each other.

"Aang you were right about air power, as long as we have the skies we'll have the Fire Nation on the run!" Sokka said. The crowd cheered and I felt a bit awkward to be the only person from the Fire Nation among people who hated them. Of course it wasn't to say that I approved of them either. Just somehow I felt left out even though I was apart of this.

"Hey." I blinked and turned to Sokka. Oh great.

 _Yeah it is._

Shut up feelings! "What is it?"

"Someone tells me that you were worried about me." He said with a smirk. I narrowed my eyes at Katara who quickly turned and began to talk to someone beside her.

"Of course I was. I'm not heartless." I said.

"Hey no need to be defensive. It's a simple statement." With raised hands.

"Yeah, well I'm sure you would have been worried if I fell to my death too." I said, adjusting my glasses.

"Yep, I would." I glance up to him. He looked at me with the most casual expression he had or least that's what I thought.

"...good." I said after a moment of silence. I cleared my throat and put an arm around Aang neck. "Well I say you should give Aang a big hug to thank him for saving you!"

"Ah, Sozai!" He yelped as I pushed the two together. I laughed at the scene I had caused.

I was going to win, that was a fact. But how was I going to act after that? I didn't come here for a love story, I came to help Aang in any way I could. Well now I had two missions: _just_ be friends with Sokka.


	15. The Prince Of What?

Water splashed into my face and I proceeded to clean off my glasses for the ninth time. Why, you might ask? Well we've been flying for two days straight and Appa is wavering almost a foot away from the surface of the ocean. I wanted to stop for the poor guy, but there wasn't anywhere to go. Everywhere you looked it was water and ice. Neither of which were safe to stay for the night.

"I'm not one to complain." Sokka suddenly said. I raised my brow without turning around since I was still cleaning off my glasses.

"Really, since when?" I could feel him glaring at my back. This made me smirk.

" _But_ can't Appa fly any higher?" He continued. I wanted to agree, but demanding a sleep depraved animal to fly at will was cruel. Appa was probably more irritated and tired than any of us.

Aang turned around with an angry expression. "I have an idea! How about we all get on _your_ back and you can take us to the North pole!"

"I'd love to. Climb on everyone, Sokka is ready for take off." I could practically taste the sarcasm in the air.

"Nah, I think Momo is a bit more reliable." I said as I placed my glasses back onto my face. I turned to see his deadpanned expression.

"I just think we're a little irritated since we've been flying for two days." Katara said as she tried to ease everyone's hostility.

"Not me." I leaned back on the saddle. I waited around on a ship for three years to find Aang. A few more days wouldn't be a problem, but I couldn't say the same for everyone else. Especially Appa.

"While Sozai is being annoyingly contrary," Sokka said as I stuck my tongue out at him. "I don't see why we're here. We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing here."

I glanced to Katara and Aang as they looked down feeling more discouraged. "Way to be super negative, Sokka." I said with a sigh.

"Hey, I'm just saying-" Before the boy could finish his disheartening statement, suddenly, a large ice burg formed in front of us. Aang did his best to keep us from hitting it. I, however, flew forward, knocking into the young air bender. The monk frantically grabbed my waist to keep me from flying off. My eyes were closed but we hit something else before landing. I opened my eyes and Aang let me go before I stood up.

"Spiritual lion turtles." I mumbled and looked over at the boy. "Thank you Aang."

"Are you alright, Sozai?" The boy asked. I nodded, my heart was still beating a thousand miles every second.

"I think _that_...earns my number eight spot on the scariest moments of my life." He looked at me in confusion before several boats with men came from behind the ice burgs. I recognized them as water benders. It was starting to become obvious that this was the Northern Water Tribe.

"Their water benders! We found the Water Tribe!" Katara said excitedly.

"No _they_ found _us._ " I said as they stared with serious eyes. Some glanced over at me with a piercing gaze. I peered down at my Fire Nation uniform and began to feel very uncomfortable.

"Who are you? State your business here?" A man said. He looked to be the oldest man out of the group. His long grey hair was dreaded and the wrinkles on his tanned skin made him all the more intimidating.

Sokka nudged Aang forward to speak. "Uh, my name is Aang and I'm the Avatar. I've come here with my friends because I'm in search of a teacher to help me master water bending. If you could lead us to your tribe it would be greatly appreciated." Aang was very clear with what he wanted and what he had to say. I was a bit impressed.

The man looked us over and maybe I was just being self-conscious, but I felt him staring longer at me than the others. I rubbed my arm and pursed my lips. "I see." He said before turning to the men on his boat. They talked for a moment and his eyes came back to us. "You will follow my boat and the others will surround you. Is that understood?"

"Yes!" Aang said with an excited grin he shared with Katara. All of the judgmental stares kept me from feeling the same level of joy as the others.

* * *

The men led us to the Northern Water Tribe and I gazed in fascination. Their crest was engraved on the outside of the wall and it was massive and beautiful.

"There it is!" Aang said with a smile.

"The Northern Water Tribe." Katara added.

A tunnel was formed from the ice on the outside of the wall and Appa swam through. When we reached the other side, there were several men standing on the walls that boxed us in. They lowered the ice in front with water draining out around us as we moved forward.

"Wow, this is so different from the Southern Water Tribe." I said before looking at Katara. "No offense."

"None taken." She assured me with a smile. "I just can't believe how many water benders live here."

"We'll master water bending no problem." Aang said confidently.

They led us through the ice city as I raised my head to see all of the people. They looked down at us curiously until they saw me. There eyes were a bit harder when there gaze met mine. I found myself going lower and lower into the saddle with every gaze that fell upon me. While the others smiled I grimaced and felt guilt for things that I hadn't even done.

"What's wrong?" I glanced up to Sokka who looked at me with a raised brow.

"It's nothing." I said, bringing a strained smile to my face. "Actually, I just thought of something!"

"What...?" He asked distractedly. Something seemed to have caught his eye.

"I. Won. The. Bet." I stated proudly. At that moment everyone excluding Sokka turned around. Though I hadn't notice that he wasn't listening.

"Wow! You did, didn't you?" Katara said with a smile.

"Was there ever any doubt?" I asked, trying to bury my uncomfortable feeling. People were still staring at me.

"Yes actually." Aang said. I blinked at his answer. "I was sure Sokka would have gotten you long before now."

"Hey! I thought you were on my side!" I pretended to sound hurt.

"Well Sokka, what do you have to say?" Katara asked. When he didn't answer we all turned to him. I crawled up behind him and saw that he was staring at a beautiful girl with a dreamy expression. I quirked an eyebrow. _No_ , I thought to myself. _There's no reason to be jealous because you don't like him._

I took a deep breath and tapped the back of his head with my Paishou book."Hey, Sokka?"

He blinked out of his daze. "Yeah, w-what is it?"

They all stared at him. "Didn't you here me? I won the bet." We all waited for him to react in three, two, one...

"WHAT, NO WAY!" He yelled.

I laughed and it somehow sounded maniacal. "I told you I would and I did."

"Where did my time go?" Sokka asked more to himself than me.

"It all went to your head. You shouldn't have been so confident. I have emotions of steel."

"Yeah, I noticed." He grumbled. I blinked at his answer. What was that suppose to mean?

"So what do you win, Sozai?" Aang asked. Win? Well, I never thought about that. I just wanted to prove to everyone that I could do it.

"Wasn't it that the loser has to do whatever the winner asks?" Katara asked. I watched as her brother groaned.

"Do your worst. I can take it." He said puffing out his chest.

I began to laugh. "I'm not heartless you know. Besides I haven't thought about that yet. Mmm, I have to think about it."

"Great, I can't wait." He said sarcastically.

"Oh it's won't be that bad. Think of it as revenge for trying to force hugs onto me." I said. He suddenly grinned.

"That reminds me."

"Oh, no, no, no!" Everyone began to laugh as I did my best to back away.

* * *

When we reached the ice palace we were met by a tall man with a solemn expression. He seemed as though he was the one in charge. Everyone got off of Appa and it looked like someone was informing him of our circumstances. He walked over to us and smiled as he spoke. "I've been told that you are the Avatar, welcome to the Northern Water Tribe. I am Chief Arnook."

Aang bowed as he spoke with a smile. "Thank you. It's an honor to meet you. My name is Aang and these are my friends."

"I'm Katara." The girl spoke politely.

"And I'm Sokka." Her brother said. "It's a nice place you have."

"Thank you." Arnook replied. As they spoke I looked up at all the architecture around me. All of the buildings were made of pure ice and I've never seen anything like it. I had so many questions. Who was in charge of the structure build? How many people bent the ice? When did- "And you, child, what is your name?"

I blinked and looked up to the man. "Uh, sorry, my name is Sozai...sir. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I see that you are Fire Nation. Are you a fire bender?" He asked. I wasn't sure what to make of his question, but I could only guess they were trying to keep everyone safe...from me.

"No sir, I'm just a regular girl with no special abilities." I said with a nervous laugh and fiddled with my glasses. I was nowhere near being a shy person, but when I came to my nation I couldn't help feeling tense.

Maybe Chief Arnook could feel my anxious behavior because he looked back at everyone as a whole. "Well, it's wonderful to have you all here. Today is my daughters sixteenth birthday and we are having a feast. I think we can also make it a welcoming party for the Avatar and his friends. You'll be my honorary guests."

"Ooh, a feast! I'm so hungry." Sokka whispered next to me. For once I felt the same about the boys constant hunger. We hadn't eaten in days and I was starting to feel fatigue.

Arnook smiled. "I can also introduce you to a water bending master who can teach you."

"That's great!" Aang was thrilled.

"Then I'll see you all this evening." The chief turned around and went on his way.

* * *

That evening we were all sat down at a long ice table. There was two rows of ice tables with people in front of me. I looked curiously at the steamed water in the center of the floor as they placed meat into the liquid. I sat between Sokka and Katara as we waited for the feast to start. Though I began to wondered where the Chiefs daughter was. It was her birthday wasn't it? Maybe he was going to announce it. They did something similar in the Fire Nation when girls come of age. At least that's what I was told by mother. I'm only fourteen so it hasn't happened and based on my circumstances, it probably won't.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Sokka asked, poking the wrinkle in my furrowed brow. "If you keep that up you'll look like my Gran-gran in no time."

I rolled my eyes with a grin. "It's nothing."

He squinted his eyes at my face. "Mm, I don't believe you, but okay."

"I don't need you to believe me. It's the truth."

"Sure."

"Fine."

"Yep." I narrowed my eyes at him as he quirked his lips when he saw my reaction.

I was about to say something, but the Chief standing to his feet interrupted my train of thought. "Tonight we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern tribe and their Fire Nation ally. They have brought with them someone very special. Someone we believed disappeared from the world until now. The Avatar." Aang waved at them sheepishly as the people cheered.

"And we also want celebrate my daughters sixteenth birthday." Arnook said. I looked back to see the beautiful girl from earlier. It just made sense that she would be a Princess. "Princess Yue is now of marrying age."

"Thank you father. May the great ocean and moon spirits watch over us in these troubling times." And of course her voice rung like a peaceful bell as well. Wait, a minute. These were all nice things? Why was I thinking them with such a grimace? Somehow I knew the answer, but I didn't want to admit it to myself.

"Now master Pakku will perform with his students." Arnook announced. I looked up at the old man, who I assumed was Master Pakku. He and his students bent the water with a great amount of fluency and I was highly impressed. I clapped along with the others as I turned to Katara and Aang.

"Just think about how much experience you'll get with him as your teacher."

Aang nodded. "I know, thinking about it has me so excited to learn everything I can."

"I know what you mean." Katara said. "Their so in tune with each other."

I looked up at the man as he manipulated the water. "Well, Chief Arnook said he'd be introducing you to a teacher, maybe it's him."

"Oh man this is so great!" Aang's smile looked physically impossible. Nevertheless, I shared his excitement.

I glanced over at Sokka as I noticed he was talking to the Princess. "So...you're a Princess that's great. You know back in my tribe I was known as a Prince myself."

"Ha!" I blurted out as Sokka looked with a frown. "What? I didn't say anything." My grinned said differently.

"Prince of what?" Katara said with a laugh.

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "A lot of things. Would you two mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here."

I gasped in fake exasperation. "I...I believe we have upset his Highness."

"Have we?" Katara said, playing along with me. "Our apologies, Prince Sokka."

"Wait. If he's a Prince doesn't that make you Princess Katara?" I asked.

"Sozai!" Sokka yelled.

I held up my hands as a sign of surrender. "Okay, okay, as you wish your _Highness_." The situation was ironic really. I decided to turn away and pretend that I wasn't listening.

"So it looks like I'm going to be in town for a while and I was thinking we could do an activity together?" Spiritual lion turtles, Sokka that was bad, really bad. However, the Princess seemed to find it funny.

She smiled. "Do an activity together?" Sokka froze before inhaling some of the food in front of him.

I couldn't help, but laugh. "You're such a lady killer, Sokka."

" _Very_ smooth." Katara added. We looked at each other before giggling. Sokka grumbled to himself with red cheeks. Had we actually embarrassed him? No, it was most likely because the Princess was watching him. And she was looking at me.

I waved awkwardly. "Hi, sorry if we're disturbing you."

"You mean _you_." Sokka said. I rolled my eyes.

"No, it's no disturbance." She said with a smile. "It's some of the most excitement I've ever had at a feast."

I tilted my head. "Even with all of this amazing..." I looked down at the strangely shaped food. "Uh...water bending?"

She held a hand over her mouth to laugh, seeming to notice me stumble over my words."Yes, even with that." Yue looked at my uniform more curious than critical like the others. I wondered if she would bring it up, but she didn't say anything. So I decided to do it myself.

"I bet it's strange to see Fire Nation willingly brought into your tribe." I smiled to make my statement less difficult to say.

"Yes, well you are strange, Sozai." Sokka added. I glanced to him before pushing his face aside so that I could see the Princess better.

"Ak!" He said.

Her face was filled with amusement and surprise. "Ah, yes. I'll admit it was a bit peculiar. Since I've never seen anyone from the Fire Nation before."

"Well imagine that. Now you and I can become the first Fire Nation and Water Tribe alliance/friendship. And Prince Sokka can take you out on an activity." Yue and I looked at Sokka as his eyes shifted between us. The boy looked down at the food and quickly started eating again. I bit back my laugh.

If I became friends with Princess Yue then there was no need to feel jealous. She did seemed like a kind person and were both Princess so we had something in common. Even if she didn't know that. After all, Sokka and I were just friends.

* * *

"So what are you guys going to do?" Aang asked. Apparently, Master Pakku took his training regiment very seriously. Aang said that he and Katara had to meet the man before sunrise. I personally thought of it as a good thing. That meant that Master Pakku would train them well and he would most likely do a good job. Hard work leads to progress.

"Well, I'm not really sure." I said honestly. "But I know what _he's_ gonna do." Sokka looked at me with an annoyed expression. Though he didn't deny anything because he knew I was right.

"You should ask if they have a library or books you could read." Katara suggested.

"That's probably what I'm going to do." I said. "Let me know how your training goes."

"Will do!" Aang waved as we walked separate ways. I started in the other direction and I raised my brow when I saw Sokka beside me.

"Shouldn't you be looking for a white haired Princess?" I asked. "Why are you walking with me?"

Sokka shrugged as casually as he could. "Can't a guy just happen to walk in the same direction as you?"

"Yeah, a guy, but you're Sokka." I grinned as I saw his eye twitch. "You're so easy to pick on."

"Why is it always me, huh? Do you have any special reason?" His shoulder brushed mine and I scooted away, walking a bit closer to the water. I didn't dare look him in the eye. I was nervous, so I tried to play it off.

"Are you serious? Special? I joke on everyone equally." I forced out a laugh. "Like I said you make it too easy."

"Mm, whatever you say. I know the truth." He said. I rolled my eyes. Were we really going through this again?

"Yes, you do because I just told you." I looked him directly in the face this time. Though I hadn't realized how close he had gotten once again. I was starting to feel anxious again and my cheeks were feeling unnaturally hot. "Hey, you know the bet is over, don't you? I won so you can stop messing with me now."

"Yeah I know." Sokka glanced at me with a satisfied smirk. "I noticed during our little challenge that me being close bothers you."

I fumbled for a moment and gaped at the boy. "No... that's not- I mean-"

"Well maybe I'm just imagining it." He said with shrug. "You seem to be fine with Aang though. I wonder why just me, hm?"

Several thoughts were coming to me at the same time and I had to think of something fast. Was he just taunting me to get a reaction or did he actually know? "You're just imagining things. Don't be full of yourself." I adjusted my glasses and pursed my lips. Sokka took a breath and I kept my eyes down. We walked in silence and after a while I was starting to wonder if he was still there. I shivered from the cold air and rubbed my arms. Katara had given me an extra pair of mittens but that's about all she had.

"You should get a coat." Sokka said. "You're shaking like crazy."

"Yeah I noticed. I'd ask someone but I don't think any of them would want to serve me." I grimace at the people staring at me from across the water. Everyone that had passed us gave me peculiar looks. None of which I wanted.

"That hug is still available." He joked with a grin.

I looked at him with a deadpan. "Go find your Princess."

He blushed and rubbed his cheek. "She's not my Princess...yet." Yet, he says. I shook the thought off. "Frankly I think she had a better time talking to you than me."

"No, it's a girl thing. Plus you were so awkward. ' _Let's do an activity together_ '. Come on, Sokka." His cheeks reddened even more.

"Hey, I was nervous!"

"Well don't be." I stated simply. "Just be yourself. She'll like you better that way. I mean I..." I trailed off and slowly turned my head to the boy next to me. His face was blank and he blinked.

We stared at each other for a moment before I smiled. "You'd better get going."

"Sozai, you-"

"Should be going too. Have fun!" I said turning the next corner, not really sure where I was going. Soon I was running and that wasn't very safe considering everything was made of ice. As I became further and further away my thoughts were starting to come into play. Ugh! How could I almost say something so girly! No, not girly. I almost said something that would given it away! I was here to help Aang! However, I couldn't think of not one way I've contributed to the group.

Really, I was just extra weight that Appa had to carry around. When I actually thought about it I hadn't done anything to help. Aang was of course the Avatar, Katara was an exceptional water bender who was improving everyday and Sokka was smart and could also hold himself in a fight. What was I? A book worm who has no experience in combat. My brother had said so himself.

I frowned at the thought of my brother, but not for the reasons people might think. I had tried so hard not think about him. I didn't want to feel guilty for abandoning him and I didn't want to feel uneasy homesickness. Not the Fire Nation, but the ship I had spent three years of my life on. It wasn't the best, but I remembered Uncle occasionally bringing the crew together and sang calming songs. I'd never actually joined in. Though I did clap along with them. I remember my brothers permanent grumpy expression that sometimes cracked a smile at my silly comments. It was always a relief to see that he didn't feel completely broken. I wondered where he was right now. Was he on the right path? Did he know where we were?Perhaps he'd started another conflict. Zuko wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with.

 _I should know_ , I thought with a smile.

I always seemed to think of the 'good times' when Zuko wasn't around. But it would be hard to if he was here now. He wanted to kidnap Aang and saw me as a traitor. And for what? I knew my values and morals, but what was I doing to contribute? As I thought of this a boat came up beside me.

I blinked when I saw that it was Princess Yue. "Um, hello..."

She smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

"Same to you." I said looking around. Maybe Sokka hadn't seen her yet. Perhaps that's why she was talking to me.

"Are you searching for someone?" The Princess asked.

I looked back down to the snow haired girl, shaking my head with flushed cheeks. "No, no, just looking at the scenery." Yeah, like she would believe that. I realized that she hadn't moved on yet and she really was sitting here to talk to me. "So are you on your way to somewhere?"

The Princess shook her head with a smile. "No, not particularly. At least not right now. I'm just enjoying a nice day out."

I leaned from one foot to the other. "I see, well, was there something that you needed from me?"

"Not really," Yue said. "but I saw you and thought that we might be able to talk more since yesterday."

I resisted the urge to give a questioning look. Talk to me? Was she serious? Of course I said I wanted a friendship, but I didn't think she was actually going to listen to me.

"Unless there's something else that calls for your attention." She said. "I don't want to hold you here."

"It's fine." I answered. There wasn't any reason _not_ to speak to her. If Sokka could see that I can talk to the girl he likes normally then he'll have no reason to be suspicious of me. "I was trying to find a library."

"Oh well, I could lead you there and converse on the way." I eyed her for a moment. She only held a graceful smile and that was something I envied. It was freezing out here and I was shaking like a drowned rodent. But I didn't hate her for it. So I lowered myself down into the boat carefully to face her.

"So, what is it that you'd like to talk to me about?" I asked, folding my legs underneath me.

"Nothing in particular." She stated. This time I did raise my brow. _Then why ask me to sit in your boat?_ "Though I have to admit, I've never met anyone from the Fire Nation before. Or any other nation for that matter, well, besides the Avatar."

"So you want to know about my nation?" I asked. Well if that was all. I could understand. Being a Princess and living in the North pole- she's probably sheltered, like I was. "Well it's warmer." I joked.

She laughed a bit. "Yes, there's that, but I'm curious how you became acquainted with the Avatar and two Southern Water Tribe members."

"It's a long and drawn out story that's probably three to five times longer than this boat ride." I said trying to advert talking about myself. Yue seemed nice, but I wasn't about to tell her everything.

She blinked. "I see. So it's a very exciting story."

I thought for a moment. "I suppose you could say that."

"Well, if you don't to tell I won't pry." Yue said, glancing down to her hands. "Though I do have something to ask you."

Ask me? "Alright." Is all I could think of to say.

Her crystal blue eyes looked up at me with a sincere expression. "I talked to Sokka a few minutes ago."

"Oh." I tried to keep my voice as even as possible. Though I had to wondered, why was this something she needed to tell me?

"And I asked if he could accompany me later this evening...is that alright?" I raised an eyebrow at her question. Was she really asking me permission to hang out with Sokka? As if I was his keeper. If anything that was Katara being that she was his sister.

"Um...I think you're misunderstanding something, Princess." I said giving an awkward smile and tried approaching this topic carefully. "Sokka an I are just super good friends. I pick on him and he gets bothered then vis versa. That's just our thing."

The Princess seemed to be relieved and embarrassed at the same time. "Oh, I assumed that you might have..."

I laughed. "No way." _You're exactly right._ "Sokka's a goofy guy, but a good guy nonetheless. So go right ahead."

"I see, thank you." Yue said gracing me with a smile. Everything about this girl was perfect and I really wanted to hate it. But I didn't because it would be stupid not to like her for such a childish reason. I grinned at her and adjusted my glasses. "Well, we've arrived."

I glanced up to the ice building engraved with the Water Tribe symbol. The door was covered with some sort of animal skin and the windows were small. I clumsily stepped out of the boat and nodded my head to the Princess. "Thanks for the ride."

"It was no trouble." She said before heading off. When she was out of sight I sighed. I had given her my _blessing_ so there was no reason to feel upset. I had handled the situation with dignity and now feelings just had to catch the memo. _It was simple_ , I thought with a nod. And I was going to keep telling myself that until it was true.

* * *

That night everyone returned home grumpy which was strange. This morning everyone seemed to get what they wanted. Well, except for me, but I have the library so it alright.

"How's warrior training going?" Katara asked Sokka, clearly seeing the frown on his face. He dropped his bag to the ground and kicked it aggressively.

"Was it that bad?" Aang asked.

"No, it's Princess Yue!" Sokka laid down on the floor. "I don't get it! One minute she wants to go out with me and the next she's telling me to get lost."

Everyone became silent and I tilted my head. That didn't seem right. This morning she seemed happy that the two of them were going to have fun together. She'd even asked for my permission. Something else must be wrong. However, I couldn't admit that to Sokka because then he would know that the Princess basically assumed we were intimately involved with each other.

I shook my head. "So how did water training go?" Katara and Aang frowned.

"Master poop head won't train her because she's a girl." The monk pouted.

"Really?" I questioned. I couldn't seem to grasp that concept. Frankly my father was the Fire Lord and he actually preferred Azula to Zuko. And where he is at the moment spoke volumes to my point.

"Well why don't you just teach her Aang?" Sokka suggested.

Katara stood up with a smile. "Why didn't I think of that? At night you can teach me the moves you learn from Master Pakku. That way you have someone to practice with and I learn at the same time. Everyone's happy!"

Sokka frowned. "I'm not happy."

"But your never happy. Come on Aang." Katara said as the two went out side. The boy continued to pout as he looked at me.

"So, how was your day?"

I quirked my lips up. "I don't know if I want to answer. Frankly your frown is bringing me down."

Sokka pushed up his mouth to form a smile with his mitten covered hands. "Better?"

"Better." I said with a laugh. He gave a small grin. "So you're having Princess troubles, huh?"

"Yep," He said, leaning his face into his bag. "but I've already been having those for a while."

I glanced to him curiously. "Oh."

"Yeah, there's this girl and she picks on me all the time. She's short,but acts bigger then she is. She reads way to much and talks a lot of smack."

I wanted to feel insulted but the way he spoke of me in second person was funny. "Sounds like an epic girl."

"But she can't hold her own in a fight." Sokka finished wait for me to defend myself. But it never came.

I sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

He blinked in surprise. Normally something like that wouldn't get to me, but I had already been thinking that about myself. "Sozai..."

Before he could say anything else Aang and Katara ran into the tent. "We have a problem!" The monk said.

"What happened?" Sokka asked.

"We were outside practicing and Master Pakku saw us!" Katara cried. "Now Aang is band from being his student!"

"That is a problem." Her brother mumbled

"What are we going to do?" Aang panicked. "Without a teacher I'll never get any better."

"Alright everyone just calm down." I said as they all looked to me. "There's nothing we can do about it right now. _However_ , if we talk to Chief Arnook tomorrow we might be able to settle this. He and Master Pakku seemed close. Maybe he can convince him to change his mind."

The monk looked at me and nodded his head. "Yeah, we can do that. First thing in the morning. Good thinking, thanks Sozai." I blinked. I hadn't done anything but told them the truth.

* * *

The next morning we called an audience with the Chief and Master Pakku. They had agreed and I was surprised to see the Princess, along with what I assumed to be the elders. "What do you want me to do, take Master Pakku back as his student?"

"Yes!" Katara snapped as she shied away slightly. "Please..."

"I suspect he might agree if you swallow your pride and apologize to him." The Chief said and I frowned. This wasn't right. I realized that customs were customs and it wasn't our right to change how things were, but I didn't agree. Even the Fire Nation knew that women had more worth to them then cleaning or healing.

I glanced to Katara as she looked conflicted. "Fine."

The older man smiled in a way that made me dislike him even more. "I'm waiting little girl."

This put Katara over the edge. "No! No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" The ground cracked and the gourds in front of us broke open spilling out water.

"Uh, Katara?" Aang spoke with an unsure tone.

"I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me!" She said with a determined expression. Everyone looked at her in shock. The girl stalked out and Aang smiled nervously.

"I'm sure she didn't mean that."

"Yeah I think she did." Sokka said and I smirked.

"Way to go Katara." I glanced up and realized that everyone was indeed staring at me. I laughed awkwardly and followed after Katara quickly. Soon the others were outside as well and Sokka spoke up first.

"Are you crazy Katara? You're not going to win this fight!" He said urging her to stop. His sister threw her coat at him.

"I know! I don't care!" She said.

"You don't have to do this for me. I can find another teacher."

"I'm not! Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy!" We looked up to see the man descending the stairs.

"So you decided to show up!" Instead of recognizing her challenge he walked right past her. "Aren't you going to fight?"

"Go back to the healing huts where you belong." This man was just asking for it.

I crossed my arms and leaned toward Katara."The water whip will probably be the most effective."

She nodded in anger and pulled water out of the ice slapping him in the back of the head.

 _Ooooooh!_ My thoughts screamed in excitement. I fought the urge to grin and moved out of the way. Master Pakku turned around. "You want to learn to fight so bad, study closely." He pulled water from the ground and threw at Katara. It was swift and I was starting to regret encouraging her to challenge him. He circulated the liquid around them and Katara slapped it towards us. I jumped aside before it had the chance to hit me. Sadly Sokka was taken instead. He yelped.

Pakku created a wave of ice as Katara ran toward him. She slipped over it and landed on the ledge next to the steps. She hardened ice around her feet when the older man bent water at her. "You can't knock me down!"

"Yeah go Katara!" Aang yelled. I clapped along with him. Maybe she did have a chance. I watched her run towards him and winced when she was slapped aside into a pool of water. I frowned at the people who cheered and waiting for Katara to get up out of the water. Thankfully she did as she bent slices of ice at the man. Katara ran at him again and she was flooded with vast amount of water. She stood up and he smiled.

"I'm impressed, you are a very skilled water bender."

"But you still won't teach me will you." She said with a frown.

"No." Well then. Katara froze the ice around her and jumped at the man. He lifted water from the pool behind him and froze it into spikes, trapping her where she was. She struggled to free herself, but her arms were stuck so she couldn't bend. Looks like it was over.

"This fight is over." He said walking away.

"Come back here! I'm not finished yet!" She yelled, determined to break free.

"Yes you are." He said before looking down at the ground and picking up Katara's necklace. It must have fallen off while they were fighting. "This is my necklace." I furrowed my brow. He wears jewelry?

"No it's not! It's mine! Give it back!" Katara said,

"I made this sixty years ago." Wow, how old is this man? "For the love of my life, for Kana."

"My Gran-gran was suppose to marry you?" Talk about a plot twist.

"I carved this for your grandmother when we got engaged. I thought we were going to have a long happy life together. I loved her." Well, the tone of this situation changed very fast.

"But she didn't love you did she? It was an arranged marriage." Katara added. "Gran-gran wouldn't let your tribes stupid customs take over her life. That's why she left. It must have taken a lot of courage."

I'd never officially met this Gran-gran, but she seemed pretty epic. I realized Princess Yue was standing behind me when she started to cry and ran away. Sokka looked unsure of what to do and I patted his back. He looked up at me with wide eyes.

I smiled. "What are you wait for? This is when you chase after her. Girls like that sort of thing." I watched as he hesitantly ran and my smile decreased slightly before walking over to Master Pakku. "So..."

He glanced to me. I held my arms behind my back casually. "Seeing as Katara's pretty amazing at water bending _and_ there's that whole 'her grandmother was the love of your life' thing. I think you should make an exception to teaching her. What do you think?"

Master Pakku watched me for a moment and looked over at Katara. "I think," Katara was nevous. "I'll see you and the Avatar before the sun rises tomorrow morning."

Katara smiled wide in excitement. "Thank you so much! You won't be disappointed." The man said nothing more before walking away, but I noticed the smile on his face.

"You did it!" I cheered as we laughed and jumped around in a circle. "That was so amazing I had no idea you'd gotten that good!"

"Thanks." She said rubbing the back of her head. "I just think the adrenaline kicked in."

"Sure." We both held happy experssions before she spoke.

"But are you okay though?" She suddenly asked and tone changed.

I blinked. "...okay?"

"With Sokka, I mean..." _So she did know._ My mind told me to lie to her and say that I had no idea what she was talking. But the words just wouldn't come out.

I shook my head and grinned. "No, but it's for the best." I laughed. "I think they'll make quite an adorable couple. Their both so awkward."

Katara didn't seem quite as convinced. I wasn't even convinced, but I smiled nonetheless. She had no choice but to do the same. "Okay."

"Hey Aang, what do you say we go get something to eat to celebrate!"

"Sure!" The monk said walking up beside us. We started on our way as the boy turned to me. "Oh, I forgot to ask you what you've been doing since we got here, Sozai."

"Not much." I shrugged. "Just reading, have you guys ever heard of the Spirit Oasis?"


	16. Broken Family Bonds

I was alone. Well, not completely alone. Appa was keeping me company. Aang and Katara had water bending lessons. While Sokka was most likely spending his time with Yue. Over the past couple of weeks this had become a routine for me. The gang went off and I tried to find a way to spend my time during the day. To make things a bit more off putting, ever since Sokka went off to follow his dream girl Katara has made it a point to ask me how I've been doing everyday. I assured her that nothing was wrong and why would there be? Sokka seemed happy.

That's what I convinced myself to think and I wasn't about to be selfish.

I shook those thoughts out of my head and smiled up at the flying bison as he chomped down on cabbage. "It's good isn't it? I'm kind of jealous of your taste buds buddy. You can eat anything without a second thought. No offense to the Northern Tribe, but I don't really care for the food. Don't tell anyone though." I widened my grin as the beast roared out a response. "I knew I could trust you."

I picked up a head of cabbage passing it from my right hand to the left. "Let's play a game okay?" The bison stared at me as I stepped back a few feet. "I'm going to throw this and you try to catch it in your mouth. It'll be fun." Appa took a step back and opened his mouth with a slight roar. I smiled. "Okay catch!"

The cabbage flew through the air and the bison caught it in his mouth. I clapped my hands with a smile. "Good job buddy, but I guess it was pretty easy wasn't it?" I walked back up to the bison and patted his head. "Maybe we can try throwing one above your head."

"Sozai?" I turned to see Sokka and Princess Yue walking up together. I felt more curious than anything else.

"Hey guys." I met them halfway a smile. My eyes shifted between them before speaking. "What are you two up to?"

"Nothing much, I just wanted to show Yue our good friend Appa."

I peered over at the white haired Princess and she nodded to me. "I see."

"We go way back don't we boy?" Appa took this moment to knock the boy over and lick his entire body covering him in saliva.

"Looks like someone hasn't been giving him enough attention." Yue said with a giggle. I laughed as well seeing Sokka struggle to get away.

"So what are you guys doing out here?" I asked as Sokka finally freed himself from the large bison.

"Well, I was actually going to take the Princess for a ride on Appa." The boy said rubbing the back of his head.

I glanced at him as Yue spoke up.. "Um, unless you would like to come with us as well?" I couldn't read Sokka expression and I didn't think I wanted to.

Instead of trying to interpret the situation I simply smiled. "No it's fine, I think I've spent enough time with Appa today."

"Are you sure?" Sokka asked. Why was he persisting it? Didn't he want to be alone with Yue? He was ruining his chances by ask me to come with him.

"Yeah, I'm positive. I was just about to go do something else anyway." Which was a lie, but oh well. "See you later buddy." I ruffled Appas fur lightly and turned around. "You two crazy kids have fun." I decided not turn around to see the looks on their faces. It was more entertaining this way and it made me feel less awkward.

I stretched with a sigh. It looked like I would really have to find something else to do. That was going to be easier said then done since I hadn't really talked to anyone here. Well, besides the librarian. I had even considered going past the weapons center, but what would I do there? I don't know how to fight. Though, for some time now I had started to consider learning some form of combat. From who? I wasn't sure yet. I thought about asking Sokka but he's been so busy with the Princess that I could see it was out of the question. Aang and Katara were benders so they wouldn't be much help either. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment.

I walked back up to the palace and saw Aang rolling around in the snow. I smirked and piled the powdery substance into a firm ball and threw it at his back. He yelped in surprise as I let out a giggle. "Ah ha, I got you."

The boy whirled himself to standing position and my eyes widened. He grinned in response. "No bending no bending! That's an unfair advantage- Ouff!" He bent snow underneath my legs as I fell face first into the cold surface. I sat up with a shivered. "Ak! Why!"

Aang laughed in a taunting manner as he pointed at me. I narrowed my eyes and grabbed his ankle. Before he could respond, I yanked. The monk flipped over falling beside me. I pushed snow over top of him. For a moment he did nothing then proceeding to pull himself out of the snow.

"Hey!" He called as I blinked at him. We stared at each other before bursting out into laughter at the same time. "That was fun."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah you-" I stopped my thought in an instant as I noticed black snow falling from the sky. Scooping up the unknown substance into my gloved hands, I stared at it carefully. I recognized that smell anywhere. It was soot and this only happened when several ships were gathered together into the same area. I grimaced.

"The Fire Nation."

* * *

A man beat a drum of warning while everyone in the area ran toward the palace and up the stairs to the main room of the Chiefs palace. There wasn't much more to do then sit and wait for instructions. So we did just that, waiting for everyone to settle down. Katara, Aang and I sat against an ice totem pole. I searched around waiting for Sokka. Princess Yue had already arrived so that meant that he was by himself somewhere. When the boy finally came inside I waved him over. He looked upset and angry at the same time. I wanted to ask why but this probably wasn't the best time for that. Instead I scooted over and allowed him a space beside me.

When it finally came time for the Chief to speak my attention was back onto him. He was very calm and that was something I appreciated. You could tell whenever father was irritated or angry because the fire around his thrown would practically explode with his every word. He called upon the moon and ocean spirits for support and I was glad that I had actually read about them before hand. Despite not being a part of the Water Tribe I was still worried for their safety. They were innocent people after all.

"At this time I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission." The Chiefs voice brought me back into reality. I was caught off guard when Sokka stood up next to me.

"Count me in."

"Sokka?" Katara said in a concerned tone.

"Be warned some of you will not return. Come forth to receive your mark if you accept the task." The boy stepped forward and I furrowed my brow. Why did he need to make such a point to stand up first? I watched as he received the markings on his forehead and the Princess looked like she was about to cry. Something must have gone wrong. After the process was finished Sokka was gone and the rest of were left alone. Aang, Katara and I walked out side and I sighed at the sun.

"Ironically it's such a nice day." I said leaning against the ice beam on the stairs. The Chief walked up beside me and spoke.

"The stillness before battle is unbearable. Such a quiet dread."

"I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people. I'm gonna make a difference this time." Aang said standing to his feet with a determined expression.

"Well, if the soot clouds have come already it shouldn't be long now." I said.

"Really?" Chief Arnook asked, looking at me curiously despite the situation.

I nodded. "Yes, if the cold front moved in when it did that usually mean that the warm front (the Fire Nation) is hot on it's tail. No pun intended of course. I'd estimate no less than an hour of their arrival if not two."

The older man held a hand to his chin. "I see." He walked away and I rubbed my arm self-consciously. Hopefully I had said something that would help out with the dire situation on it's way to the North pole. I began to wonder if Zuko was with this fleet of Fire Nation ships as well. Though it was hard to believe general Zhao actually letting the hot headed boy accompany him anywhere. He made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with my brother. But all of this aside I didn't doubt Zuko's ability to go after what he wants no matter what.

I pursed my lips. Hopefully none of that would be a bigger issue than I was making it out to be.

* * *

We all waited at the front wall of the Water Tribe and a part of me thought this plan wasn't a good idea. What if they used the fire ball sling against us? What kind of protection did we have? I supposed that the most talented water benders in the whole world counted for something, but I wasn't one of them. Regardless, I kept quiet. Since the village learned of the Fire Nation attack they had become even more weary of my presence. Which was ridiculous, but fear did that to people. So I doubted that anyone would listen to me.

I squinted my eyes when I saw something bright coming directly towards us. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, OH-" My frantic panic was interrupted by a gigantic fire ball being launch at us and I was throw off the wall and into the snow. I hit my head against something hard and it hurt. For once I was glad for the cold because it was numbing the pain in the back of my skull. Being so distracted by everything going on around me I didn't realize that Sokka had been calling my name.

"Sozai! Sozai! Where are you? Sozai!" He yelled frantically. I groaned 'over here' and he pulled me out of the snow. "Are you okay?" His blue eyes looked over my form.

I nodded before wincing and bringing a hand to the back of my head. I felt something moist and looked down to my bloodied mitten. "Oh. Well I guess I'm not."

His eyes widened. "You're bleeding?"

"Yeah, but I'm fine. We should really get out of here before something else happens." He wanted to argue, but I made a good point. Why wait around to be hit again?

"Where's Katara?" I asked.

"I found her before looking for you. She got herself out." I was caught off guard when Sokka took my wrist and we ran up the stairs. We didn't stop until we were far enough from the fire balls being thrown at the front of the wall. I was out of breath and glanced up to the boy.

"Okay, I think we're far enough." I said slipping my hand out of his grip. He didn't say anything and looked down at my bloodied mitten. I pulled both of them off and slid them into my sash. "I'm fine, only nicked my head. I don't know about the mittens though. I'll have to wash these before giving them back to Katara. If the blood even comes out."

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked. "I mean really alright?"

"Listen a little blood isn't going to kill me." I smiled despite the situation. "If I can't fight I at least need to stand this much."

He sighed, seeing that I had finally let up. "You scared me." Sokka put a hand on my shoulder.

I blinked at his gesture. "Oh...well, I am sorry...for that..."

We stared at each other for a moment before he coughed. "We should get back to the palace."

"Right, we should." I stated stiffly before quickly walking ahead of him.

* * *

I was confused. After we returned to the palace Chief Arnook asked me to follow him, but I had no idea what that meant. When I finally saw where we were headed I was at a loss of words. I turned to the older man and shuffled a bit. "Um sir, with all do respect. What am I doing here with the soldiers?" I glanced over to Sokka from the corner of my eye and he was probably thinking the same thing as myself.

"I saw how informed you were on Fire Nation tactics and I'd like you to contribute to our battle strategy." He said.

"Even if I'm a girl?" I asked skeptically. I knew it wasn't the time, but I couldn't help questioning him.

"Drastic times calls for a change." His answer was straight to the point and I could respect that.

I shrugged. "Fair enough. What do you need?"

He turned to the men in front of him rather then answering my question. "Men you will all be infiltrating the Fire Nation Army. That means that you will all need one of these uniforms." A boy stepped into the room and I raised my brow. What century was that model made? The fabric looked rough and seriously out dated. Sokka seemed to think the same only he laughed.

The boy in uniform scowled. "What's your problem?"

"Fire Nation uniforms don't look like that." Sokka answered.

"Of course they do." He answered haughtily. "These are real uniforms captured from actual Fire Nation soldiers."

"Actually." They all turned to me. Great. "The Fire Nation hasn't worn those in a long time. Several decades ago, almost a century really. When did you get this one?" The boy glared at me as I pointed.

"Eighty five years ago." The Chief confirmed.

Sokka walked out from the back row. "The Fire Nation doesn't wear spikes anymore. Their uniforms are more stream lined. For example: what Sozai has on right now."

"How do we know we can trust them?" The boy narrowed at us. "He's a new recruit and the other is from the Fire Nation."

"Sokka is from our sister tribe, Han. He is a capable warrior and I value his input." Said boy looked satisfied with the Chiefs answer. "Sozai is trusted by the Avatar himself and that is good enough for me."

"She could be a spy." Han replied.

I narrowed my eyes. " _Or_ I could just be trying to help. You don't even know me."

"Exactly." Han answer with a smug expression. I tightened my fist and decided not to say anything else. It wasn't worth it.

"Now our first order of business to figure out who their leader is."

"His name is Zhao." Sokka answered simply. I tried to resist the grin forming on my face when I looked at the grumpy expression Han was holding. "Middle aged, big side burns, bigger temper. Did I get all that Sozai?"

I leaned back against the wall with a small smile. "That pretty much sums up Zhao. Oh, and he's _super_ full of himself. Can't forget that one."

"Oh yeah, that too." Sokka said with a smirk.

"Sokka, Sozai, I want you two to tell everything you know to Han. He's leading this mission." Chief turned to the arrogant boy. "Han show them your respect. I expect nothing less from my future son-in-law." My eyes almost bugged out of my head at his statement. This guy was going to marry Yue? Well no wonder she was flirting with Sokka like no tomorrow.

Her fiance sucked.

"Princess Yue is marrying _you_?" I could tell Sokka was shocked.

"Yeah, what of it?" Han asked impolitely. I frowned. _Well, your personality seems horrible._

"Nothing, congratulations. " I pursed my lips and rubbed the back of arm. Poor Sokka.

* * *

I gave all the information I could possibly think of to the arrogant dobe and decided to leave. Despite trying my hardest to be helpful he couldn't see past my uniform to take in what I was staying. I had gotten so frustrated at one point I was tempted to take one of the staffs off the wall and wack him with it for every insult he threw at me. I left angry and ashamed. Angry because he had lumped me off as some sort of traitorous spy. And ashamed because of how horrible my nation's reputation had become to even try and defend it.

I didn't bother to say anything to Sokka. He had his own things to worry about.

As I stalked down a hallway in frustration I saw the Princess, Aang and Katara walking somewhere together. They seemed like they were in a hurry. What was going on? I decided to find out and followed after them. "Hey, you guys!" I called out. Katara turned around and waiting for me to catch up. "Where are you all going?"

"Yue is going to take us somewhere Aang can connect with the spirit world." She explained. "Maybe if he gets some wisdom from a spirit he can figure out how to defeat the Fire Nation."

"That's a good idea. There's all kinds of spirits in there that are thousands of years old." I said keeping my pace beside her. If anything could help Aang it was the spirit world.

When we reached the end of a road there was a peculiar little wooden door. "Is this the way to the spirit world?" Aang asked. Yue laughed.

"No, but I can't take you to the most spiritual place in the North pole." She opened the small door and there was beauty on the other side. I saw a water fall and a pond that surrounded a small green patch of island in the center of the area.

"Wow." I said. "Reading is nothing compared to real life."

Yue glanced in my direction. "You've heard of this place before?" She seemed surprised.

"I read. A lot." I wasn't sure what else to say. That's all I really did. It looked like she wanted to say something else, but Aang laughing and sudden running distracted her.

"Wow, I never thought I'd miss grass this much." He laid back and spread out his arms.

"It's so warm here." Katara said in fascination. "How is that possible?"

"It's the center of all spiritual energy in our land." Yue explained.

I clapped my hands together in a praying motion. "Praise the moon and ocean spirits. You've made me a warm and happy girl." I looked down curiously at the two fish in the pond. I noticed how they circled around each other continuously. Though my thoughts were interrupted when Momo came over and attempted to grab for them. I frowned at the animal along with Yue and Katara.

"You're right Yue. There's something about this place." Aang said sitting on the ground and close his eyes. "It's tranquil and I feel at peace."

We watched as the boy sat in silence and I stared at him in interest. I had never seen him go into the spirit world before and it was exciting to think that I would finally get that chance. I've read so much about the process and it was going happen right in front of me. After a few minutes we all waited for something to change. Yue looked between the three of us before speaking.

"Why is he sitting like that?"

"He's meditating." Katara answered. "He's trying to cross over into the spirit world. It takes all his concentration."

"Is there any way we can help?" She asked.

"How about some quiet!" Aang blurted in irritation. "Come on guys I can hear everything you're saying!"

"Hey don't look at me. I haven't said anything." I said crossing my arms with a raised eye brow. The boy reluctantly turned around and for a moment I was second guessing this plan. What if it didn't work? Not a minute later Aangs arrow tattoo began to glow. "Wow it's happening."

The Princess turned to me in concern. "What's happening?"

"He's crossing over into the spirit world." Katara said. "He'll be fine as long as we don't move his body. That's his guide back to the physical world."

"Maybe we should get some help." Yue began to walk back to the exit.

"No." I said, putting hand on her arm. "The less people know the better. If the Fire Nation get's in here, spirits forbid, we don't want Aang to be vulnerable in this state."

"Besides, he's our friend. We're perfectly capable of protecting him." Katara said with a smile.

I quirked up my lips. "Really? _We_? Have you seen me in a fight?"

"Yes Sozai, and you're not very good." I blinked at the familiar voice and paled. We turned quickly to see my brother coming across the wooden bridge that connected to the small island.

"Oh no." I mumbled.

"Oh yes." He said with frown. "Be a good little sister Sozai and hand over the Avatar."

"Or what?" My voice was calm and careful. Though my heart was beating out of control. "You'll hurt me?"

"I won't have to do anything if you just hand him over." His tone just as even as mine. My eyes looked over him and I saw the bruises and scars. covering his face (besides the one already there, of course). What had happened to him?

I shook my head. "You know I can't do that. Zuko, you don't have to do this."

"That's where you wrong." I watched as his stance shifted. He was really going to fight.

Katara stepped in front of me with her arms extended in fighting position. "I'll handle this. You take Yue to safety."

"But-"

"Go." I pursed my lips before glancing to my brother once more. His eyes were hard and I took in a breath before looking away. I ran to Yue and took a hold of her arm.

"Let's go." We ran and crawled out of the small door and didn't stop until I could feel my legs burning. We slowed down until we stopped completely. I let go of the other girls forearm. Leaning over with my hands on my knees, I attempted to catch my breath. I raised my head to the Princess who was trying to regain air in her lungs as well. "We...need t-to...get some help." Yue didn't say anything for a while and then she turned to me.

"That boy, is he really your brother?" She asked with wide blue eyes. "He called you little sister."

"Look, this really isn't the time..." Yue's stare only made me more uncomfortable. I bit my lip before giving in. "Yes he is, I'll explain everything later. We just really need to get going now." The girl nodded before we were both running once again. To be honest I wasn't sure which direction we were suppose to go. If all the soldiers were heading towards the ships it was likely that none would be around to assist us.

"Sozai, up there!" I looked up at the sky to see Appa dropping down in front of us with Sokka steering. Yue and I ran over to him. "Sokka!"

"Are you guys okay? What's wrong?" He asked.

"Zuko is attacking Katara and Aang is in the spirit world!" I blurted.

Sokka narrowed his eyes. "Get on quick." I pulled myself up as the boy assisted the Princess.

"So why are you here and not with the other soldiers?" I asked.

Instead of looking at me he turned to the Princess sitting beside him. "I was...asked to protect Yue by her father."

Yue blinked. "Oh I see."

"Lucky for us that he did." Sokka peaked at me from the corner of his eye and said nothing more. We flew through the air and the sky was becoming brighter as the sun rose. That wasn't good at all. Fire benders became stronger with the sun and Zuko was already very talented. I was becoming more and more worried by the second. I knew that Katara had learned a lot in her time here, but my brother had been training for so much longer. A one on one might not have been safe. But what would I have done to help?

We neared the spirit oasis and when I saw that only Katara was standing there alone I became very nervous. It looked like there was a hard fight that had just occurred. Ice scattered around and burnt grass and trees. We landed and I slid down Appa's tail, running up to Katara.

"What happened to Aang?" Her brother asked.

"Zuko took him right out from under me!" Katara's tone was distressed as her eyes watered.

"Where did they go?" Sokka asked more to himself than anyone else. I pursed my lips.

I was worried for Aang. If his body was moved he wouldn't be able to locate it and would be trapped. Though I knew it was wrong, I was also worried about Zuko too. He like some horrible had happened to him. What had he been doing before now? Why was he here alone. Where was Uncle? I felt guilt and anxiety all at once.

"Zuko." I mumbled. Things didn't look good at all.


	17. We All Needed A Hug

"I can't believe I lost him." Katara said in a shaky voice as she dropped to the ground with tears in her eyes.

"You did everything you could." Sokka said placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned to her brother with an anxious expression. "Now we need to do everything we can to get him back."

I nodded in agreement. "That's right. This is the North pole and fire benders don't do all that well in the snow. So Zuko couldn't have gotten far." The girl stared at me with wide eyes before standing to her feet.

"Okay." She mumbled as we all began to climb onto Appa's back. I assisted Yue and sat down at the end of the saddle. We began to rise up into the sky and I shivered at the frost bitten air. I pulled the bloodied mittens back onto my hands. It was better to have dirty fingers than none at all. I didn't have any other way to keep warm besides hugging everyone around me and this wasn't the time for that. There was a blizzard ahead and Zuko and Aang were in the midst of it.

"Let's keep a close look out. The snow is covering up everything so they'll be hard to track." Sokka said as he steered the bison. I tried doing as he said, but my glasses were glazing over from the snow. I quickly rubbed them off and sighed.

"Sozai." I looked up at Yue who spoke. She held a knowing look and I knew all too well what she wanted to say.

"Yes he's my brother, no I'm not working with him and yes, he is the Prince of the Fire Nation." I paused. "Making me a Princess."

"I'd just thought you would have trusted us more." Her blue eyes gave a sad down-caste look.

"Well, if we're being truthful here. People don't trust the Fire Nation and I doubt that they wouldn't find it suspicious that a Fire Nation Princess is just skipping through the icy streets of the North pole with no ill intentions."

"We wouldn't do that to you, you're a good person." Yue countered. My eyes flickered back into the blurry white nothingness around me.

"Sure." It wasn't that I didn't believe her. I just didn't want to take that chance. Jet didn't even know I was a Princess and he couldn't stand to see me breathe. I'm sure he would have killed me if Longshot hadn't graced me with his mercy. Knowing that I could have died simply because of who I was terrified me and I wasn't willing to go through it again. Yes, there was Bato, but he was a close family friend of Katara and Sokka. I wanted to explain this to Yue, but it wasn't the time nor the place. The most important thing right now was finding Aang.

Yue was silent for a moment before speaking. "Don't worry, I'm sure Prince Zuko hasn't gotten far in this weather."

Katara grimaced. "I'm not worried about them getting away in this blizzard. I'm worried that they won't." Nervousness flooded my system. Aang was our number one priority, but what about my brother? If he had come this far- from where ever he came from he must feel desperate. I've known that my brother has been feeling desperate for the past three years. Most likely longer than that with how father has treated him. If I was acknowledged by father I might even add myself, but that's not the case.

"They're not going to die in this blizzard." Sokka stated firmly. "If we've learned anything about Zuko it's that he never gives up. They'll survive and we'll find them."

I nodded more so to convince myself than Katara. "Yeah, my brother is reckless and a hot head sometimes- most of the time, but I know they'll be fine."

We searched and searched for what felt like hours and there was no way to tell how long we had been out looking. Mean while my skin was numb from not wearing a coat and my glass were beginning to freeze to my face, so I had to take them off. Now making it ninety percent harder to see, though I was pretty much blind to begin with. My lips were prickly and hurting. But I wouldn't say this out loud. I had other things to worry about. Like my brother deciding to take the worlds only chance at peace, again.

Thankfully the snow gave us a bit of peace and stopped falling so harshly. So the snows cold stabs weren't as violent when they made contact with my skin. I sighed and looked up into the sky since it had cleared up a bit. It was dark outside once again, so we had been search for Aang for quite sometime. Hope filled my chest when a bright blue streak of light crossed over the sky. I clearing off my glasses as Katara pointed to the sky.

"Look! That has to be Aang!" She yelled. Sokka quickly turned the Bison towards the direction of the streak was headed.

"It's most likely his spiritual energy." I concluded aloud. "So it found his body after all." I felt relieved that we were going to find him but also anxious that I would have to face my brother again.

When we neared Aang's location, I saw the boy with his body tied with ropes. Zuko was holding him up and I grimaced. He looked so damaged. What had happened to him?

Appa landed and my brother threw Aang to the ground. He stood in fighting stance as he spoke. "Here for a rematch?" His question sounded confident, but our surroundings said otherwise. We were in the middle of the North pole at night. There was no sun to give him the advantage. How did he think he could win in this situation?

"Trust me Zuko, it's not going to be much of a match." Katara said as he bent fire at her. She blocked it with a shield of water and surrounded him with ice as she raised him into the air. The girl then slammed him down into the snow and I winced at the impact. Sokka went over to cut Aang free and grinned. "Hey, this is some quality rope." He sounded excited and I supposed I could appreciate that for how dark the moment was.

"We need to get to the oasis! The spirits are in trouble. " Aang yelled running over to the bison. Everyone got on and my eyes widened. There was no Uncle this time to keep an eye on Zuko. He was unconscious and out here alone. No, no this wasn't right. I slide off down Appa's tail and Sokka raised his brow.

"Sozai, what are you doing?" He asked as I walked over to my brother and stood in front of him.

"We can't leave him here." I said with a firm tone.

Sokka frowned. "Sure we can."

"No, we can't. He's my brother and he'll die if we abandon him." I crouched down and attempted to pull him by his arm. I was only able to get him out of the snow that covered him. Either he was heavy or I was a weakling. Probably both.

"Here." I blinked as Aang helped me pull him up and he took him, jumping on top of the bison. Sokka put a hand down to me and pulled me up and I crawled next Zuko. He looked angry even in an unconscious state. I would have laughed if I hadn't seen how he needed up this way. Our relationship conflicted me and I had no idea how to fix it.

"Yeah, bringing the guy that wants to kill us is a great idea." Sokka grumbled as I looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

"He doesn't want to kill us." I defended, though my tone wasn't quite confident. I glanced to Aang who began tying ropes around my brother. "He wouldn't do that." Sokka was about to quip out a witty statement before they moon turned to a blood red color and the sky faded to complete darkness. Yue held her head and groaned.

"Are you okay?" Sokka asked as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"I feel faint." She with a soft voice.

"Me too." Aang said. "The moon spirit is in trouble."

"I owe the moon spirit my life." Yue said.

I tilted my head. "What do you mean?"

The girl looked down before she spoke. "When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born, but I didn't make a sound. I was born as if I was asleep. The healers did everything they could, but my parent's were told I was going to die. My father pleaded the spirits to save me. That night they went to the pond and place me inside. My hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry for the very first time. That's why my mother named me Yue for the moon."

"I had no idea the spirits had that kind of power." I said, though I shouldn't have been surprised.

* * *

When we arrived at the oasis, Zhao and his soldiers were all standing around the pond and he had a bag in his hand. It was so dark out I had a hard time seeing what it was. Then I realized that the fish weren't in the pond. He'd taken them. I scowled as we jumped down from the bison. Momo attacked Zhao head before flying over to Aang. I wasn't a fighter, so I wouldn't be much help. But I wasn't about to let him kill the moon spirit.

"Don't bother." The older man said holding up his fist to the bag.

My eyes widened as Aang spoke. "Zhao, don't!"

"It's my destiny," He stated firmly. "to destroy the moon and the Water Tribe." Did he seriously believe that? He was even more corrupt in the mind than my own father and that was saying something.

"Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water tribe." The monk said in an attempt to reason. "It'll hurt everyone, including you. If you removed the moon everything would fall out of balance. You don't know how much chaos that would unleash unto the the world."

"He's right Zhao." I blinked and turned.

"Uncle!" I called anxiously. So he was here after all, but why was he with Zhao?

"General Iroh, why am I not surprised by your treachery?" Zhao asked in a condescending tone.

"I'm no traitor Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance." Uncle stood in fighting position. "Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash onto ten fold. Let it go now!"

The general stopped and I pursed my lips. "I know you think it's your responsibility, but you'll be hurting everyone. This act would even betray the Fire Nation so _please,_ don't do it." Zhao looked between all of us before placing the fish back into the water. I felt relief flow through me only for it to be shattered a moment later as he threw fire into the pond. I winced in pain. I was standing too close to the flames and it grazed my arm. However that didn't matter at the moment. As the flames dispersed so did the moon and the color of the sky. Zhao had killed Tui.

Uncle jumped over to the soldiers and fought them off. In the midst of the fight the general seemed to have gotten away. We all walked over to the pond and Uncle picked up the dead koi fish.

Yue's eyes watered up and she looked to be on the verge of tears. "It's over, there's no hope now."

I was startled when Aang's tattoos began to glow and he spoke with several voices coming from his mouth. "No it's not." He walked over to the pond and stood in the water as it began to shine along with La's eyes. Aang stood there for a moment before he was fully submerged into the pond. The water began to shimmers as it moved down the stream and raised into the air. The liquid formed into some sort of creature with Aang in the center. He moved from the oasis out into the village leaving us to mourn over the dead fish.

Uncle turned over Tui to see if anything had changed, sadly it didn't. "It didn't work." Katara said with a helpless frown.

"What do we do now?" I asked him with wide eyes.

He put a hand on my head before looking at Yue with realization written all over his face. "You were touched by the moon spirit. You have their energy inside you."

"Yes, I do." The Princess stood to her feet. "Maybe it's time to give it back."

Wait, does she mean...

"No! I won't let you!" Sokka said, grabbing hold of her hand.

"It's my duty, Sokka."

"Your father told me to protect you." The boy seemed desperate to keep her from doing what we all knew was fatal.

She pulled her hand from his grasp and walked forward. "I have to do this."

"Wait!" I said taking a step in front of her.

"Are you trying to stop me to?" She asked with a frown.

"No, I uh...I'm sorry." I blurted with guilt running through my system. "I didn't tell you the truth. I kept secrets even though we're friends and I just thought-"

"It's okay." She said with a small smile. Yue leaned toward my ear. "Take care of him for me."

I blinked at her statement and before I could question her she'd already turned to my uncle. Yue placed her hands on the fish as it began to glow. Her eyes closed and she fell to the ground.

"No!" Sokka yelled, holding her close. "She's gone."

I felt a pain in my chest as I looked at Yue's lifeless body. She hadn't lived very long and it was sad to say I didn't get to know her better. Suddenly her body disappeared and the fish glowed once more. Uncle placed it in the water and Yue's shimmering spirit appeared.

"Thank you for everything." She said as she kissed his lips. I looked away feeling as though I was watching something private. When she faded away my eyes peered up to the moon with an empty feeling.

 _I'm going to miss her,_ I thought with watery eyes.

"Sozai." Uncle said. I walked over to him and hugged his torso tight.

"Uncle, I missed you." I mumbled into his clothing.

"Me too." He said, patting the top of my head in a comforting manner.

I glanced up at him with a concerned expression. "What happened to Zuko? Why does he look so beaten? Did someone do that to him?"

Uncle almost smiled at how worried I sounded about my older brother. "He was caught in an explosion."

My eyes widened. "A-an explosion! Did he see a doctor or someone? Or maybe-"

"He's alright, Sozai." Uncle interrupted with a real smile this time.

"Are _you_ alright, Uncle?"

"The moon spirits balance has been restored, so I believe I'll be fine." The older man turned. "Now, I have to go retrieve your brother before we are apprehended."

I blinked and began to remember that Uncle and I were on opposite sides. He was helping Zuko catch the Avatar and I wanted to keep Aang safe. I pursed my lips and looked down. "Then...you should go, I saw that Zuko escaped a while ago."

"Don't worry, we will most likely meet again." His tone was a bit amused despite the situation.

"Bye Uncle." I said as he walked away. He waved and I sighed once he was out of view. Our family was probably more out of balance then the whole world combined. My shoulders sagged at the thought.

* * *

The sun was beginning to come up and I stared up at the reseeding moon in the distance. Sokka was talking to the Chief, Katara was speaking with Pakku, and Aang looked like he wanted to be alone so I was left by myself to think. Yue had told me to take care of _him_. I could only assume that she was talking about Sokka. What did she mean? We were friends so of course I was going to do my best for the guy. Though somehow I knew there was more to what she had said, but I wanted to ignore it. She had been Sokka's girlfriend and she didn't technically die, but she was still gone.

The thought made me sad.

As I thought about all this someone stepped up behind me and I turned to the Water Tribe boy himself. A strained smile formed onto my face. "Hi."

He tried to do the same. "Hey." We stood in silence before I gathered the courage to speak once again.

"I'm sorry...about Yue- I mean...yeah." I fumbled over my words and mentally kicked myself.

"I'm sorry too." I raised my eyebrow. "She was your friend too." He sounded tired.

"She was, but she was more then that to you." I paused. "I know you really liked her and she really liked you too."

"I did." His blue eyes finally turned to look at me. "What did she say to you?"

"Say to me?" I asked, not quite understanding.

"Before she...gave herself to the moon spirit, what did she say to you?" Sokka saw my conflicted expression and turned back to the water. "I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

I took a deep breath and clinched my fist. "She told me to take care of you."

"Take care of me?" He repeated. "Why would she..." Sokka trailed off as he stared me down. His mouth gaped a bit seeming to finally understand what I never had the courage to say. _You have feelings for me?_ He thought and I readjusted my glass with a smile.

"Let's go see Aang." I said taking a step back from him and he looked down not realizing how close we were. "Come on day dreamer." I began to push him by his back towards the rest of the gang as we joined into a group hug. I knew we all needed it.


	18. A Potential Weapon

_I can't sleep_ , I thought to myself for the billionth time. My eyes could probably burn a whole through the ceiling for how long I had been staring. I'd been tossing and turning in my hammock for hours. For some reason I just can't find a comfortable spot to rest. I was exhausted but my body refused to give me any peace. This was getting ridiculous. I hadn't had a decent amount of sleep in almost a month.

Three weeks ago.

That's when the Fire Nation came to attack the Northern Water Tribe. It was the last time I saw my brother and uncle. It was also when Princess Yue sacrificed her life to bring back the moon. I pursed my lips at the thought. She was one of the few friends I had managed to make on this crazy adventure. My eyes shifted to the snoring Water Tribe boy next to me. It's funny how he doesn't seem to have any trouble getting to sleep. Though I knew Sokka was having a hard time as well. After all Yue was his girlfriend.

 _Argh,_ I groaned internally as I ruffled my hair. _I shouldn't even have told him what she said! Now he knows how I feel for sure!_

He hasn't brought it up so it's fine, right?

 _I suppose so or it could be that I've been avoiding the topic like a disease._

That's also true, but it wouldn't hurt to just bring it up.

I shook my head as if to shake the thought out of my head. No, for all I know he didn't even know what Yue was referring to. So it's better to just play it safe and focus on other things. My thoughts were interrupted when I saw Aang climbing out of his hammock and going up the stairs to the top deck of the ship.

Well, I wanted to deter my thoughts...

I pulled myself up and went after him. When I stood up I saw Aang looking out at the water with a distant expression. Slowly walking up behind him, I poked the back of his head. He turned around with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

He was silent for a while before speaking. "I had another nightmare." I decided to wait and see if he would say anything else before speaking. "I was in the Avatar state and I could see myself. It was scary. I was scary."

I leaned over the railing and looked out at the dark sea underneath us. I knew Aang had been bothered about what happen a few weeks ago. I wasn't the Avatar much less a bender so I couldn't relate to how he felt. I glanced back to him as he looked dazed. "I'm sorry." Is all I could manage to say. _Good on you Sozai, so helpful._

I held a wry expression as he turned his head towards me. "Why are you awake? Did you have a nightmare too?"

"I wish." I said, mentally kicking myself. _You idiot, he's here because he had a nightmare._ "I can't sleep and I saw you come up here."

"Why can't you sleep?" He asked curiously.

I shrugged tiredly. "I've just been thinking about some stuff."

"Is it about Zuko?" He asked knowingly. I took in a deep breath of the cold midnight air. It almost made my insides freeze a little.

"Yeah, mostly. I'm worried about him. He has a way of getting himself into trouble all the time, you know." I smiled as an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Oh I know." Aang replied, smiling a bit as well. We were both quiet and I decided to speak.

"Um, I never did thank you for standing up for me about Zuko." I shifted awkwardly from side to side. "He would have died if we didn't take him with us."

"It's okay, Sozai. Even though you're with us you don't need to stop caring about your brother." His expression was sincere and that relieved some of the stress I was feeling.

"Thanks." I said, as the tension started to evaporate. Though I could safely say we were friends, I didn't want to tell them my deepest darkest feelings. However, it was nice to confide in someone every once in awhile. Aang was caught off guard when I suddenly put my hands on his temples. "May the lion turtle spirits give you peaceful dreams."

He blinked. "I don't think that's how lion turtles work."

"You don't know that. Lion turtles have done some spectacular things." I said with a wink. "So get some rest."

"I'll be down in a bit. You can go on first." He said and I narrowed my eyes.

"Well, I'll go when you do." The monk glanced to me almost in disbelief.

"Fine."

We stayed up almost the entire night.

* * *

We were on master Pakku's boat so that he could escort us to the Eastern Earth Kingdom. He was on his way to the South pole and we were about to depart from his ship. I gave a loud and almost obnoxious yawn when Sokka turned to me with a raised eyebrow.

"Didn't get enough sleep?"

"Mm, you could say that." I said blinking my eyes lazily. " _Someone_ decided to keep me up all night."

"What?" Sokka asked with a somewhat lost expression.

"No, you could have just went to bed." Aang argued, looking just as tired as I was.

An amused grin formed on my face. "But then I would have lost."

The blued eyed boy looked between us and was about to speak before Pakku walked over. "Katara, I want you to have this. This emulate contains water from the spirit oasis. The water has unique properties, don't lose it." He quirked up his lips as Katara hugged him.

"Thank you master Pakku."

"Aang, these scrolls will help you master water bending." The older man said handing him a wooden box. "But remember there are no substitutes for a real master." The monk looked back at Katara and they smiled at one another.

"Sozai." I blinked when my name was called. I pointed to myself to see if I was hearing correctly and he nodded his head. He pulled a book out of his bag and placed it in my hands. It looked like it hadn't been used at all. "I heard that you went to the library daily. It's a book about some of the spirits that the Northern Water Tribe is knowledgeable about."

My tired face brightened. "Thank you." I almost forgot to bow before turning.

"And Sokka, take care son." The boy looked down with embarrassed disappointment. We all climbed onto Appa's back when Pakku spoke.

"Fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base that is east of here. General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu. There you will be safe to begin your training with King Bumi." The man said as we flew off. I sat back and looked at the novel closely.

"Wow, I can't believe he gave this to me." Momo crawled over and sat on top of my shoulder. My lips quirked up as I showed it to him. "Isn't cool?"

He made an in-distinctive noise and I nodded. "Yeah that's what I think too." My eyes peered over at Sokka who was pouting at the edge of the saddle. "Oh don't be too sad I'll share my gift with you."

"Aw, I wanted my own." The older boy grumbled.

"He gave you a pat on the shoulder and called you son. That's something right?" I teased and he gave me a deadpanned expression. "Well you know..." I trailed off with a yawn and Aang followed after me just as loud.

"What's up with you too?" Katara asked. "You guys have been yawning all morning."

We looked at one another before Aang spoke. "We were up last night."

"Doing what?"

"We were having a contest to see who could stay up the longest." I answered. "I think I won."

Aang turned around and looked at me in disbelief. "No way, I won. I saw your eyes starting to close."

"Yeah, but I was standing up and that doesn't count as sleeping." I countered. "And didn't you lay your head on the railing. I'm pretty sure I heard some snoring coming from your direction."

"No..." He paused. "that was Appa."

My eyebrow rose as if to show I didn't believe him. "Let's leave it at a draw for now."

"What led you two have a competition like this?" Katara asked.

"I had some trouble sleeping so we decided to make a contest out of it." Aang said without really explaining anything. Though I knew Katara wouldn't leave it at that and she would get her answers eventually.

I sighed in fake disappointment. "Yeah, sadly there was no prize."

Katara glanced to me as a smile formed on her face. It seemed she had remembered something. "Hey, Sozai did you ever get your wish from Sokka?"

The boy now held shifty eyes as he looked between his amused group members. I saw this and smirked. "No, actually it slipped my mind for awhile."

"Aw come on Katara I thought I was home free." He groaned to his sister.

I lightly tapped the book against his head. "Calm down, I would have remember eventually. Besides I still have no idea what to ask for. It has to be something _really_ good."

My smile slowly slipped off my face when I saw him staring back at me. I think he realized it too when he spoke louder than necessary. "Oh! Okay!"

I was at a loss of what to say and decided just to nod instead. Because of this the rest of our trip to the Eastern Earth Kingdom was a bit awkward.

* * *

I thanked all things spiritual when our destination coming into view. That meant we could all have some separation and the situation wouldn't call for such an awkward atmosphere. When Appa landed I slid down his tail and stood to my feet before stretching. We had been sitting for a few hours and I needed to move around.

"Welcome Avatar Aang." I turned around to see the general and his soldiers behind him. "I am general Fong and welcome to all of you! Great heroes, Appa, Momo, Brave Sokka, Mighty Katara and Sozai a Fire Nation ally."

I raised my brow. I am from the Fire Nation and I am an ally. So I suppose it didn't really matter. My attention was turned to the sky when fireworks began to go off.

"Not bad, not bad." Sokka said with a smile.

Once the display was finished general Fong led us into a tall building to a room where I assumed he had most of his meetings. It was quite large with pillars lined up on either side leading to a table where he sat himself down. We were seated several feet back in the middle of the walk way. I sat down crossed legged being that I hated leaning back on my knees. Aang placed himself down beside me with Katara and Sokka on the other side.

"Avatar Aang, we were impressed with the story of how you single-handedly took out an entire Fire Navy fleet in the North pole." The general said. "I can't imagine what it's like to wield such an amount of power. It's an amazing responsibility."

"I try not to think about it too much." The young boy said. My eyes peered over to him. Just last night he stayed up until dawn because of how guilty he felt about the abilities he had.

General Fong smiled. "Aang, you're ready to face the Fire lord now."

My jaw gaped open in shock and disbelief. How could this general even let that come out of his mouth? My eyes narrowed.

The monk panicked. "What! No I'm not!"

"Aang still needs to master all four elements." Katara defended.

"Why? With the kind of power he possesses, the kind of power that can destroy Fire Nation fleets in minutes, he could defeat the Fire lord now!" I didn't like the tone this man was taking.

"But sir he can only do that in the Avatar state." Sokka stated politely.

"See it's a special state where-"

"I'm well aware. Your eyes and tattoos glow and you can summon unbelievable power." The general said. "Without you we'd be slaughtered before we reached their shores. But with you leading the way as the ultimate weapon we could pierce right through the heart of the Fire Nation."

I understood why they wanted him, but the way general Fong was referring to Aang as a weapon bothered me. Yes he is the Avater, but that didn't change the fact that he was a human being as well. Somehow I was starting to dislike general Fong despite his want to take down my father. It was a worthy cause, yet I didn't want to support it this way.

"Right, but I don't know how to get in or out of the Avatar state much less what to do when I'm there." The boys expression turned away with a frown.

Regardless of Aang hinting that he didn't want to help the general still decided to speak."So it's decided then. I'll help you get into the Avatar state and you can face your destiny."

Alright that's it. "Would you please just quit it?" I said finally speaking up for the first time in the conversation. "We already have a plan, so could you stop forcing your way onto Aang?"

The general narrowed his eyes in my direction and I stared right back at him. "Well why you take your time learning the elements, the war goes on. Can I show you something?" He walked over to the window and we followed after him. "That's the infirmary and those soldiers are the lucky ones. They came back. Everyday the Fire Nation takes lives, people are dying Aang! You could end it. Think about it."

* * *

I knew this was all true, but it wasn't the right way to accomplish it. And the fact that Aang looked to be genuinely thinking about it was bothering me. Why were we even staying here anyway? He was suppose to be escort us to Omashu, not try to force Aang into fighting the Fire lord directly. I wanted to talk to him about it, but he went off on his own. I hadn't seen him since we spoke to the stupid general.

It was dark outside and once again I couldn't sleep. Not for frivolous reasons like having feelings for Sokka. I was beginning to worry about Aang. If he was seriously thinking about accepting the generals offer then this could spell for some trouble. Just going in and out of the Avatar state is dangerous. If he was ever caught off guard in the Avatar state he could be killed and the cycle would end with him.

That was a scary thought.

I frowned into my book and placed it next to me when I heard the door opened. Aang walked into the room and he sat down on an empty bed. "I told the general I would help him by going into the Avatar state."

"Aang no, this is not the right way." Katara stated with a frown.

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I don't think this is a good idea."

"Why not? Remember when he took out the Fire Navy- he was incredible." Sokka countered causing me to frown in his direction.

"That's not the point there are other ways to do this."

Katara looked appreciative for my support. "Sozai is right, practice, study and discipline."

"Or just blow it up and stop that Fire lord." Somehow Sokka's voice was more annoying than usual.

"Spirtual lion- argh, just be quiet Sokka!" I spat. "You're not helping."

"What? Why are you yelling at me? What did I do?" He asked sitting up. I scoffed without answering.

"Fine if you two meat heads want to ruin everything we've worked for, fine, do whatever you want! Blow it all up!" Katara yelled as she stomped out of the room.

"Wait Katara, I'm just being practical. We don't have time to do it the right way." Aang tried to defend. He glanced to me with pleading eyes and I turned towards the door.

"I'm going out." I grumbled stepping out of the door. As I walked down the hallway I was alarmed when foot steps became louder from behind me. Suddenly, my shoulder was turned and I was surprised to see Sokka frowning at me.

"Hey, I asked you a question before."

"So?" I muttered, taking a step away from him. He noticed this and moved towards me.

"What's with you? Either you're angry at me or you're nice to me. There's no in between."

I furrowed my brow in frustration. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh you don't?" He asked talking another step forward.

"Quit it." I slid away from him with wry feeling in my chest.

"Quit what? I don't know what you're talking about." His tone was mocking. I was crossed between a blush and a frown at how close he was getting. Part of me was thinking: _how can i dislike and like someone at the same time? Is it some sort of hormonal dysfunction?_

"If you're not gonna tell me I want an apology. It hurt my feelings." From the look on Sokka's face I knew that wasn't true. He was smiling slightly and looking directly into my eyes.

I pushed down the pleasant flutter in my chest and straightened up. "Fine, I'm sorry your _sensitive_ heart couldn't take my aggressive tone."

"That's right you- hey! I'm not sensitive." He leaned over slightly so we were face to face. "If anything you are."

I ruffled my hair in frustration with dark red cheeks and a glowering expression. "Would you stop? Do you think this is funny?"

"Well I do love a good joke." His goofy smile was mocking and I couldn't take it anymore. I shifted away from him and turned around.

"If you'll excuse me I'm gonna go on my walk now." Without wait for a reply I quickly walked down the hall.

* * *

The next day, general Fong attempted several different ways of channeling Aang's Avatar state, none of which were successful. Truthfully I was getting tired of watch each attempt fail. Though part of me didn't want it to work at all. Aang had told me how scary it was to go into the Avatar state and feel powerless over his own body. And just knowing that the general wanted to use him in that state of mind was a frightening thought.

I didn't like the general and I didn't want Aang to try anymore, but I could only say so much.

Like any other night I couldn't sleep and I stared up at the ceiling. However, this night I was startled out of a daze from Aang sitting up suddenly. "What's wrong?" I asked. Was he having another nightmare? I glanced over to Sokka who was awake as well.

The monk was quiet for a moment. "I'm going to tell the general that I don't want to do this anymore."

Sokka paused before speaking. "Okay." I raised my brow at how easily he agreed. Wasn't he the one who thought this was a great idea?

"Do you think it will be alright?"

"I'm sure it's fine. Besides what can he do?" The older boy reason.

"Yeah, you're right." Aang said warily.

"Don't worry about it." The monk turned to me and I smiled. "Just free your mind for now and tell him clearly in the morning." He quirked his lips at me before crawling back under his blanket. Without even looking at Sokka I turned around on my side. I heard a sigh from behind me.

* * *

In the morning, Sokka, Aang and I decided to walked up to general Fong's war meeting room. Katara didn't come for whatever reason and I didn't ask because it didn't seem like the right time to bring it up. I stood on the left side of Aang and glanced back at the soldiers behind me before facing forward again.

Aang rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I don't want to be apart of this anymore. I think training to master all four elements would be a much better fit. You see I don't think I can go into the Avatar state on purpose...I guess that's it."

General Fong stared down at the monk with a disappointed expression. "Sure I can't change your mind?"

"I'm sure, I can only reach the Avatar state when I'm in genuine danger."

"I see." My eyes narrowed. He didn't seem very bothered, so why was I feeling like this? "I was afraid you'd say that." I was startled when the general earth bended his table and all directly at Aang knocking him out the window.

My mouth gaped open as I attempted to run after him- when I was suddenly grabbed from behind. The soldiers that stood near me restrained my arms and I struggled to free myself. I took my leg and kicked the left man between his legs. I then took the fallen man's staff and smacked the other soldier in the face with the back end. Turning to Sokka, he looked at me with an impressed expression despite the situation.

"We gotta help Aang." He said. I nodded as I broke the sharp end off the staff so not to accidentally stab anyone. _This stick might actually be off some use,_ I thought as we ran down the stairs. We met up with Katara on the way down and she held a worried look in her eyes.

"What's going on?"

"The general went crazy and started attacking Aang." Sokka explained .

"He's trying to force him into the Avatar state." I said with a glare. We hurried out into the front of the building to see Aang trying his best to dodge the soldiers attacks. I saw Katara knock a man off of his saddle as Sokka got on. Another soldier attempted to attack me and I swung my stick at the man's neck, knocking him off as well. The soldier stood to his feet, but before he could do anything Katara whipped him in the face with water. I gave her a grateful nod.

"Well you may be able to escape, but she can't." The general said and I raised my brow in confusion until I saw him pulling Katara in the earth. The girl yelped in a panic and Sokka called out to his sister as he road over on the ostrich. The man tripped the animal making Sokka fly directly into a large stone ring.

"Argh!" Katara said as she struggled to set herself free. But it was no use the ground had a strong hold on her body. "I can't move!"

"Don't hurt her!" Aang said bending air out at the man. The general easily blocked it.

I began to feel the anger rising up in my chest. Walking up to the man, I held the staff in my hands in a defensive stance. "Just stop! Do you really think this is the right way to achieve your goal?"

"And what would you know?" The man scoffed. "You're Fire Nation as well!"

"Yeah! That's why I know this isn't right!" I yelled as I saw him lower Katara further into the ground. I raised up the wooden stick to the man and before I could even attack he bent a rock underneath me. My body flew back against one of the stone rings and I held the crown of my head in pain, curling up into a ball.

"You see Aang? You could have stopped me if you were in the Avatar state."

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Aang said, though my vision was blurry I knew he was on the verge of tears.

"Not hard enough." The man said as Katara was pulled under ground completely. Aang leaped for her but it was already too late. Suddenly Aang's tattoos glowed and flew up into the air. I struggled to stand to my feet when Sokka came over and helped me up.

"He's out of control." I slurred out, trying to clear up my vision.

"He really got you good. Are you okay?" Sokka kept me steady and I nodded with a grimace.

"Yeah..." My eyes moved up to Aang who slammed down into the ground. The floor cracked and I held onto Sokka as well were thrown back. He covered my head and I kept my eyes closed until the strong winds stopped. The young boy dropped to the ground and he looked to have gone back to normal. He truly was a powerful being and it was amazing to see what he could do. However, I'll admit it was overwhelming.

"That was incredible." The general said with a wide smile. "We just have to find a way to control you when your like that."

"You're crazy." Aang said with a glare. I pulled away from Sokka and stood to my feet, picking up the fallen staff. When the general opened his mouth to speak I swung the stick at the side of his head and watched him fall to the ground.

He was now unconscious, good.

I glared at the soldier that were still standing, "Anybody else want this?"

They quickly shook their heads. "Do you still want an escort to Omashu?" Were they serious?

"I think we'll be fine." Katara said, seeming to sense my anger.

* * *

When we we finally packed all our things onto Appa's saddle, we ascended into the sky. I laid my head against the front end of the bison's back and winced at the pain in the back of my skull. "Is your head alright?" I glanced to Katara as she spoke. "Do you want me to take a look at it?"

I shook my head and smiled in good nature. "No, I think I'll be alright."

"You seem to be getting hurt a lot lately." She said in worried tone. "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine, honest. I think if I learned how to fight I wouldn't be such a liability." My tone was joking, but there was a lot of truth to what I said. Everyone knew this , but they just didn't want to put me on the spot.

"You were pretty good with that staff earlier." Sokka complimented.

"Thanks, but I was only waving it around wildly hoping it would hit someone. I don't have any combat training." He looked as though he wanted to say something, but Aang had already beaten him to it.

The young monk turned around with a smile. "Well, I could teach you how to use a staff. They're still effective even if you're not an air bender."

My face brightened at his words. "Really?"

"Of course, we can start whenever you feel ready." Aang said with a sincere tone. I was glad that I could finally begin to do something other than sit around and wait for others to help me. It was exciting and I couldn't wait to get started.

"You're the best buddy!" I said rubbing his bald head. He scrunched up his face a bit before turning around to steer Appa.


	19. Secret Tunnel!

I laid back against the sand with an arm over my eyes to shield my face from the suns rays. We had decided to take a break on our way to Omashu. Appa was getting tired and we didn't want to overexert his energy. Aang and Katara were in the water practicing while Sokka was floating on a rather large leaf. It was nice not to think about the chaos and destruction my father had caused from his dictatorship. It had also felt pleasant not to be under some sort of stress because everyone and their mother, or in this case father, was after Aang.

"You guys are going to be done soon right? We have a lot of ground to cover before we get to Omashu." Sokka said. Mm, he always had to ruin the moment didn't he?

Katara turned to her brother with a raised eye brow. "What, like you're ready to go right now naked guy?"

Yes and he was very close to be exactly what she said. Not that I had been staring, because I wasn't. "Hey, I can be ready in two minutes seriously whenever."

Katara looked over at me. "Sozai, why don't you come into the water?"

I peaked out from under my wrist to look over at the girl. "I'm not much of a water type. No pun intended."

"But you can swim so what's the problem?" Sokka quipped as if there could be no other reason for not joining them. Obviously.

"It's not much of a problem, more like every time I get in I'm somehow violently assaulted by the element." _Now that I think about it, it's all elements really._

He thought about it for a moment before laying back on the leaf. "Mm, you're a real Fire Nation girl at heart."

I grinned at his teasing words. "Yep."

As I looked at him I suddenly realized he was half naked and subtly covered my face again. _Smooth Sozai, smooth._ I told myself as I mentally kicked myself. If we're going to be good friend I have to be comfortable in front of him no matter what. I couldn't let a simple crush distract me from what was really important here. _Was it really a simple crush?_

I decided to push that thought as far out of my head as I could.

 _It is and it's going to stay that way._

Soon I began to doze off and before I knew it I was resting soundly. Though I was a light sleeper so I could faintly hear Aang and Katara practicing in the background. Then the soft sounds of a guitar started to play. Wait, a guitar? I opened my eyes and squinted out in front of me. It was three women and two men. One of the men was singing a song that I wasn't familiar with. The group stopped and stood in front of us mid-way.

"Hey, it's river people." One of the men said. I raised my eyebrow. That was a strange thing to say.

"We're not river people." Katara replied.

"You're not?" He asked as if their wasn't any other kind of people we could be. "Then what kind of people are you?"

"Um, just people?" I answered from my spot on the sand. He looked down at me with a smile.

"Ha, aren't we all." He answered as he raised his hands up to emphasize his statement. I began to smile at the man's actions.

I peered back at Sokka when I heard him walking out of the water as he pointing up at the man. "Who are you?" He demanded more than asked. Though the man didn't seem bothered at all by the younger boys tone.

"I'm Chong and this is my wife Lily. We're nomads happy to go where ever the wind takes us." I blinked when he randomly began playing his guitar in a strange fashion.

A giggle forced it's way out of my mouth. "You're funny."

"See she gets it." Chong said with an approving nod of his head. _Wait, what did I get?_

"You're a nomad?" Aang asked with a smile as he pointed to himself. "That's great I'm a nomad!"

"Aayy, me too." The man answered as if it was the first time he's said it. Which it wasn't, but it didn't make it any less amusing. I laughed again with an approving nod of my own.

The young monk deadpanned. "You already said that."

Chong rubbed the back of his head. "Oh." Then he looked over to Sokka. " _Nice_ underwear." The older boy covered himself with Momo and looked very uncomfortable as he shuffled away. This took the cake for me. It's official, these guys are my new best friends.

* * *

"Sozai." I heard from a harsh voice behind. I turned to see Sokka who looked far from happy at the moment.

Of course it was obvious why. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what' you know we have to go Omashu and instead we're here putting flowers in each other's hair." He said raising his hands in frustration.

"Well pollen irritates my sinuses so I can't put them in my hair." I said with a matter of fact tone. Sokka deadpanned.

"You love contradicting me, don't you?"

"I live for it."

"Well, we need to get going and these nomads are keeping us off track."

I looked over at the group as one of the women braided Appa's fur and the others laid about. "I guess you're right. Aang does need to start learning earth bending soon."

"That's right, and we need to start moving now." He stated firmly.

"Well why are you telling me, shouldn't you be saying that to Aang? I mean I agree with you, but he's technically the leader here."

"I am, but I need you to back me up here. The nomads need to go."

"Aw, do I have to? I like Chong and he tells funny jokes."

Sokka sighed. "You know I don't think that he's joking."

"Yeah, that's why he's so funny." I said with a smirk. The older boy narrowed his eyes.

"Come on let's just go already." He said as he walked in front of me and I shrugged before following behind him. As we arrived in front of the group Aang spoke up with a wide smile.

"Hey Sokka, Sozai you have to hear these stories. These guys have been everywhere." He stated as I raised my left eyebrow at the flower crown on his head. Oddly enough it suited him.

"Well, not everywhere little arrow head, _but_ where we haven't been we've heard about through stories and songs." I nodded my head in agreement. I could relate to that. That's how I've learned most of the things I know about. Through books and mythical tales. Some of which turn out to be true.

"They said they'll take us to see a giant night-crawler." Aang continued.

"Oh, on the way there's a waterfall that creates a never ending rainbow." Another man said.

"That sounds cool." My voice was in awe before I was brought back to relality when Sokka nudged me in the arm. I frowned at him as he spoke.

"Look I hate to be the wet blanket here, but we need to get to Omashu. No sidetracks no bugs and definitely no rainbows."

"Wow, looks like someone has a case of destination fever." Chong said in a song like voice. "You're worried too much on where you're going."

"You have to focus less on the where and more on the going." Lily added as she continued to braid flowers into Katara's hair.

"O-MA-SHU." Sokka was really starting to look irritated and I started to feel bad for him. Even if it made the nomads that much more amusing to be around.

"Well, Sokka is right, we have to find this king named Bumi so Aang can earth bend somewhere safe." I explained. I had never met the king before but Aang said he was his long time friend. One hundred years to be exact. They seemed legit in my book.

"Oh, well it sounds like you're trying to get to Omashu." _That's what I just said._ I think it was funnier when it was happening to other people. "There's an old story about a secret passage right through the mountains."

"Is this real or a legend?" Katara questioned.

"Oh it's a real legend and it's as old as earth bending it's self." Soon Chong started to sing a song about a secret tunnel and I had to say that I liked this one. When it was finishd we clapped while Sokka stared solemnly. He really needs to lighten up and quit being so up tight.

"That's great but I think that we'll be fine with flying, we've dealt with the Fire Nation before."

I contemplated with Sokka's words. Yes, that was true, but how were we going to fight against them if they out numbered us. Though it wasn't my call so I decided to keep my words to myself.

"Yeah, and besides Appa hates being underground and we need to do everything possible to keep him comfortable." Aang said with a smile.

* * *

The next thing I knew we were in the sky screaming bloody murder trying our best not to be hit by fire balls coming from every direction. The Fire Nation was attacking. With all this happening I couldn't help, but wish he'd stayed with the nomads.

Once we retreated we were back on the ground and stalked over to the group. "Secret love cave let's go." Sokka said in a defeated tone. We were covered in soot and dust from barely being missed by the fire balls that were shot at us.

As we walked along the road I dusted myself off. Seeing Sokka do the same I smirked at him. "See, and you wanted to ditch them."

"Hey, as long as we can get to Omashu in one piece I don't care." He mumbled back making me snicker. His dead panned expression didn't effect me in the slightest as he walked up to Chong. "So how far away is this tunnel?"

"Actually it isn't just one tunnel. The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love so they built a whole labyrinth." The man stated with a smile. If we weren't actually trying to get somewhere I would have thought that was funny. But I guess we can't win them all.

"Labyrinth?" I questioned. "As in multiple tunnels?"

"Ah we'll figure it out." He said with a shrug. I stared at him waiting for a change in expression, but he only continued to smile. I sighed.

"Fair enough." After all what else can you say?

"It will all be alright as long as you believe in the power of love. At least that's what the curse states." Lily said. I looked at her curiously. Now I found this more interesting than anything else. Mean while Sokka stopped in mid-step and groaned in aggravation.

"Curse!" My hand found his shoulder and his eyes looked down to my grin.

"It's alright Sokka, like she said believe in the power of love."

"Yeah, but doesn't being in love require another person?" His tone was dull and we looked at each other for a moment before it got awkward.

"...we should probably catch up with them...us- I mean you and I... separately...yep." I decided not to make it anymore tense and sped up to walk on beside Katara. She gave me a questioning look and I smiled with a shrug.

Soon we made our way through a narrow valley and stopped in front of a large dark hole. "Hey hey, we're here." The nomad said.

"So what exactly is this curse?" I turned to Chong as I spoke. "You know, just to clarify."

"Well it says, that only those that trust in love can make it through otherwise you'll be trapped in there forever." He said.

"And die." Lily pointed out. My eyes widened. What?

"Oh yeah and die. Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song." He strummed the guitar. "And die~"

Sokka frowned. "That's it we're not going through some dark whole."

"Hey, someone's making a big campfire." One of the nomads said, pointing up at the sky. There was smoking rising and it looked to be close.

"That's no campfire." Katara said.

"It's Fire Nation." I groaned.

"So all you need is to believe in love to get through this cave?" Aang asked. My eyes flickered to monk as his gaze was stuck on Katara's back. Despite the situation I smirked. "I think we can make it."

We all ran inside the cave and the exit was suddenly blocked when rocks fell to the ground. It was most likely done by the Fire Nation. Everything went completey dark before a light was lit. I turned to Chong who held up a torch with a smile.

"I got it handled." He stated.

Appa groared and I could tell he wasn't too happy with being trapped in an underground cave. I rubbed his head with a reassuring grin. "I'll be okay buddy. We're going to get out of here in no time...I hope..."

"We will." Sokka stated firmly. "All we need is a plan. Chong how long do those torches last?"

"Uh, about two hours each."

"Well, we have five of them so that's ten hours." Lily said as she lit all of the torches. Sokka quickly slapped them out of her hand and stomped them out.

"No it's not if we light all of them!" He went over to his pack and took out a piece of paper. "I'm going to make a map and that way we can solve it like a maze and get through."

Aang, Katara and I looked at each other with unsure expressions. Though I trusted Sokka, being stuck in a cave only activated by love was making me nervous.

* * *

This wasn't working. We had run into dead end after dead end and Appa was starting to get irritated. "Sokka this is the ten dead end you've lead us to." His sister said and she was right. I had no idea how long we'd been in here, but the first torch was already getting low.

"This doesn't make any sense we've already come through this way." The boy said as he walked back and forth with the map in hand.

"We don't need a map, we need love." Chong said. "The little guy knows it."

Aang shrugged. "Yeah, but I wouldn't mind a map either."

"So how does this love thing even work. Do we just start declaring our love for one another and then _bam_ we're out?" I questioned. "Because if that's the case I'm ready.

At that moment Sokka glanced back at me and I was thankful for the dim lighting because my cheeks were red. Aang gasped in surprised when I suddenly hugged him from behind. "I love ya buddy."

"Ugh, love you too Sozai." I pressed my cheek to his and looked around.

"Is it working?" Suddenly the ground shook and everyone gasped. "I didn't do it!"

"What's happening?" Katara asked.

"I didn't know for sure, but now I'm positive the tunnels are changing." Sokka said with a grimace.

"Uh! Changing? It has to be the curse. Oh I knew we shouldn't have come down here." Chong exclaimed in a panic.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Right, if only we listened to you."

"Everyone be quiet." Katara said and there was a strang noise that echoed from all directions. It sounded almost like an animal. Suddenly, creatures flew out of the darkness and I ducked, barely missing it's claws against my cheek.

"It's a creature with fangs!" Chong yelled.

I squinted my eyes. "No it's a wolf-bat." I'd seen them once or twice in a book I'd read about animals and they weren't known for being nice. Especially if we've trespassed into their territory. Sokka held up the torch to the wolf-bats and waved it about as the fire sloshed about. The tail end of the flame grazed Appa's fur which freaked him out. He began to run about the cave knocking into walls as rocks on the ceiling began to crumble.

I started to become nervous and shuffled about before I saw large stones about to flatten Sokka. Pushing him out of the way, we both fell to the ground with a wall of earth blocking our path. Hearing Sokka's groan I looked down and adjusted my glasses. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I..." He didn't finish as he realized that we had been barricaded in. Meaning we had been separated from Katara and Aang. Pulling himself from underneath me he ran over to the rock wall trying to free us. Though his attempts didn't seem to even make a fraction of a dent.

"Yeah, it's no use we're seperated." Chong said. "But at least you have us." He laughed and it only made Sokka's demeanor worse.

"No!" He yelled, trying to dig himself out only to be crushed by pebbles and stones.

I dusted myself off and stood to my feet. "Calm down Sokka. With you acting like that we'll never get out of here."

He glared back at me. "There's only so calm I can be with _them_."

"Well I'm here too, aren't I?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow. "It's not like you're the only one stuck in a secret lover cave. Besides I like the nomads."

"You've got a lot of love sister." Chong said with an approving nod.

"Thanks...I guess." Turning to Sokka I held a light grimace. _I wish I didn't._

Soon we started wandering through the tunnels and it felt like quite some time had gone by. However, we still hadn't found a way out. Sokka had led us to another dead end.

"Great! You've led us to another dead end." A man said who's name I had learned to be Moku. He had voiced my thoughts, but I knew Sokka was trying his best.

"Well at least I'm thinking of ideas and trying to get us out of here!" Sokka argued.

"Wait, we're thinking of ideas? Because I've had one for like an hour now." Chong stated.

The boy's eye twitched. "Yes! We're all thinking of ideas, _Sozai_." I turned to look at him with narrowed eyes.

"What did I do?" He's been acting snappy all day and I don't appreciate it being directed at me. "You're the one leading us to dead ends."

"Maybe if you helped a little we could find our way out." He folded up the map between his fingers in an irritated fashion. I could tell he was getting frustrated and it was understandable. However, I wasn't going to take his back lash.

"Hey!" I said looking up at his frowning face. "There's only so much help I can give. I'm not a cave expert!" We frowned at one another as Chong awkwardly spoke up.

"So...here's my idea." He started, catching our attention. "If love is the key then all we have to do it sing a love song."

Sokka slapped his forehead and I looked over to the nomad with a smile. "You know what Chong. That's a great idea. In fact, why don't you teach it to me? It might work better with two people." If the Water Tribe boy was displeased before he was definitely displeased now. Which only fluid my want for more of the source of his annoyance.

Chong began to play and started to sing the words repeating a few of the same ones to help me. I began to sing with him and I could tell it was bothering Sokka which joyed me immensely. Soon we started in another direction as Chong continued to sing and I followed along. It started off as a way to annoy Sokka and it still was, but it was beginning to be fun.

After a while we stopped when there was a noise coming from the darkness of the tunnel. It was similar to earlier. The wolf-bats. Suddenly they all came flying through and I quickly lowered my head to shield myself from the creatures. When they all passed I realized that they weren't after us, they were running away. When the ground shook again I stumbled a bit before seeing what had the wolf-bats so frightened. It was badger-moles, they knocked down the walls and came out from underneath us.

My eyes widened when they bent the earth around us and I was knocked to the ground. "Sokka!" I called when I saw one of them cornering him to a wall. When I was sure something terrible would happen, from out of all the chaos I heard a note. A guitar note to be exact. Sokka had hit a string of the instrument with the palm of this hand by accident but it stopped the badger-moles.

"Do it again. I think they like it!" I yelled. He did as I said and strummed the guitar.

"Ah...badger-moles coming towards me come on guys help me out!" Sokka panicked in a singing tone. Chong whipped out yet another guitar and began to sing to the large creatures which they seemed to like. He sang as I walked up to one of the badger-moles with my guard up. Though I'm sure they could still take me down with little to no effort.

"Sozai, what are you doing?" Sokka whispered harshly.

"Well we don't know a way out, but maybe they could help us. If Chong just keeps playing music they like they could lead us out." I shrugged. "I don't know..."

Sokka paused before nodded. "Well we've tried everything else and I'm getting desperate here, so why not?"

Turning back to one of the creatures I gulped before I spoke. "Um, excuse me. Can you...help us get out of the cave? We don't want to trespass on you. We really want to leave and if you do help- our friends here will keep play music for you...what do you say?"

There was a pause before the badger-moles lowered themselves to us so we could get on their backs. I blinked in surprise. _Well that was easier than I thought._ Sokka pulled himself onto the badger-mole first before assisting me. Once they stood up I wobble a bit and in a frenzy I held onto the back of Sokka's shirt. His form stiffened for a moment before relaxing again. He said nothing about the contact and for that I was grateful. We didn't need to make this anymore weird than it already was.

The moles moved fast and before we knew it they had busted through the wall and we had made it outside. I had never been so happy to see the sun in my entire life. I glanced down when I heard Katara call out. "Sokka! Sozai!"

When the older boy slid off of the creature I attempted to do the same only I fell onto my stomach with a "ouff!" Aang was quick enough to help me up and I looked at him with an embarrassed smile. He returned the gesture.

"So how did you guys get out?" Sokka questioned.

"It's just like the legend says, you need to let love lead the way." The monk stated with a goofy smile. My right eye brow raised with many questions threatening to leave my mouth but I decided to wait.

"Really? We let large ferocious beasts lead our way." The older boy continued, he turned to the badger-moles and waved before they went back into the cave. Sokka and Katara hugged before she looked up at him with a confused expression.

"Why is your forehead all red?" Katara questioned as she glanced to me and I started to grin.

At that moment Chong took the opportunity to walk over. "Hey, nobody freak out but I think that kid might be the Avatar."

Sokka smacked himself in the forehead again as I laughed. "You might be right Chong."

The older man gave a lazy smile before taking off his flower necklace and putting it on Sokka. "I hope you've learned a little bit about not letting the plans getting in the way of the journey." He took this chance to hug him as the boy grumble with a blush.

"Just play your songs."

"Hey! That's a great idea." Chong glanced to me as he began to play. "And remember love is always the way out~"

I blinked "Are you singing to me or actually saying something?"

"A bit of both~"

"That doesn't make any...okay." I said with a shrug before turning to the gang. "So what now?"

"Now we head to Omashu." Aang said. "You'll be able to see it right over that hill." He pointed in the direction of the city. It was that close? Then we could make it before dark and I might even be able to sleep in an actual bed tonight.

"Well let's get going." Katara said. We began to walk up the hill as Sokka began to speak.

"The journey was long and annoying." His eyes found me and stuck out my tongue. " _but_ now you get to see what it's really about, the destination. I am proud to present to you the Earth Kingdom city of Oma..." He turned to the city and I squinted when I saw smoke. Was that usual for an Earth Kingdom city? "Oh no..."

That was a Fire Nation symbol. Of course it was. Where ever you see smoke, expect the fire. I guess no bed tonight either.


	20. Walnuts and Sewer Friends

We were currently traveling through a sewer to get inside of Omashu. The smell was terrible and I was starting to regret encouraging Aang to see if King Bumi was alive and well. I moved as carefully as I could in such a place filled with disease and other unmentionable things. I heard Sokka gagging behind be and I honestly felt like doing the same.

When we finally found an exit, Aang search around to see if anyone was there and it seemed that the coast was clear. He pulled me up and I sighed as Katara spoke. "That wasn't as bad as I thought."

"Yeah, for you maybe." I mumbled as I wiped off my clothing in disgust. My eyes turned to the sewer when I heard Sokka coming out. He was cover in goop. Katara hosed him now with a whip of water as Aang dried of his clothes. I would have asked them to do the same for me, but it looked like a rather violent process so I kept quiet.

"UGH! What is this!" Sokka suddenly yelled as he attempted to pull small creatures off of his face. "They won't let go! Ah! Ah!"

I quickly smashed my hand over his mouth as he was backed against the wall. "Hey, be quiet. You'll call attention to us and then we'll really be in some trouble." I raised an eyebrow at him and he nodded. Taking my hand off his mouth, I tilted my head at the animal. "I've read about these...um, a pintapus, right?"

Aang nodded. "Yeah, they're really easy to get rid of, watch." The monk demonstrated by rubbing the head off the creature as it popped off. Sokka did the same for the other one and he sighed in relief. I noticed the small red spots that were left behind.

"Great now we should probably get going." I said. They all nodded and we began to walk away.

"Hey." We all turned toward the voice as I pulled the hood of my cloak on over my head quickly and ducked down. The soldiers walked over with frowns on their faces. "What are you all doing out past curfew."

"Sorry sir, we'll be getting home right away." Katara said with an innocent smile. Attempting to walk away once again- the guard called out.

"Hey, what's wrong with him?" He asked.

We all looked at each other as Katara spoke. "Uh, he has pina-pox sir." The man looked suspicious and began to walk over as he pointed out his finger.

"Uh, I wouldn't touch him." I blurted. "The slightest physical contact could potentially spread the infection to another person within less than 24 hours. Deadly even, if not treated correctly...which he hasn't..." I nudged Sokka as he began to groan.

"Uhhhh, it's so awful I'm dying."

The guard began to back away. "I think I've heard of pina-pox, didn't you're cousin Chang die from it? We'd better wash our hands!" The men ran away and I smiled in satisfaction.

* * *

"We need to find Bumi and get out of here." Sokka said as he hid behind a pile of ply wood.

I nodded. "Agreed." It was starting to become clear that perhaps coming into a city now conquered by the Fire Nation wasn't such a good idea. They knew my face, well, Azula's face and if they realized it was me then I would definitely be captured and brought back to my father.

"Where would they be keeping him?" Katara asked.

"Somewhere he can't bend, somewhere metal." Aang said as he searched the scenery around him. We stood up and began to move again once the soldier patrolling the area moved on to another spot. As we snuck around the corner I spotted a group of people on a lower level. I recognized two of them.

"Mai?" I whispered as my eyes widened. Suddenly a large bolder came down the slope of the building and Aang blew it away quickly. Once the dust from the bolder cleared. Mai's mother spoke up and pointed towards us.

"The resistances!" She yelled. Mai threw out small knife like arrows. A squeal forced its way from my lips as I barely dodged the weapons. Her eyes turned towards me with a curious expression.

I paled. "Oh no. We gotta get out of here!" Sokka gave me a confused look despite the situation. "She knows me."

The boy looked like he finally understood as he grabbed my wrist and he made a run for it. I glanced behind me to see that she was still coming. It looked like Katara and Aang's efforts weren't slowing her down. I knew Mai was talented, but this was ridiculous. When I looked around I realized we were cornered and there wasn't anywhere else to run.

"Sozai is that you?" She called from in front of us. I swallowed hard went I realized my hood had fallen back enough for her to see my face. I kept my head down and before I could answer, the ground underneath us opened. We all yelped as we fell into the hole.

"Ugh. Everything hurts." I groaned.

"You? I'm the one being crushed." Sokka grumbled. Looking up, I realized that my elbow was digging into his ribs. I flopped back and blinked when I saw three Earth Kingdom soldiers walk in front of us.

"You guys saved us. You're the resistances?" Katara questioned.

"That's right, we'll need you all to come with us." We all looked between each other before standing up and following them.

"So if you guys are the resistances. Then is Bumi here leading you guys?" Aang asked.

The soldier frowned. "No, of course not. We were prepared to defend our city to fight for our lives and for our freedom. However, before we even had a chance King Bumi surrendered."

I furrowed my brow. Why would he do that?

"The day of the invasion I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said: I'm going to do nothing. There's no other choice now. The only way to win is to fight the Fire Nation. Even if we die trying."

Well then. "Actually there is another way. You could leave Omashu. You're directing all of your energy into fighting them, but you're out numbered. I think now it's better if you retreat to fight another day." Aang said. Even though it was sad to think this way, the monk did have a good point.

"No you don't understand. They've taken our homes and we need to fight them at all costs!" The soldier seemed angry and I could understand that, but I agreed with Aang.

"I don't know Young, living to fight another day sounds pretty good to me." The other soldier said.

"Yeah, I agree with the kid." The third man said. There was suddenly mumbles from various people in the cave and they all sounded like they were thinking the same thing.

Young sighed. "Alright fine, but there are thousands of citizens that need to get out of Omashu. How are we going to leave undetected?"

"Suckers!" Sokka blurted suddenly with a large grin.

I blinked before understanding. "Ah, pintapus."

"No, _pinta-pox_." I grinned along with him. "And you're all about to come with a nasty case of it."

* * *

The villagers had gathered as many pintapus as they could and began to cover each other in the red suction cup like markings. As soon as everyone was finished, Sokka stood out and in front of them and waited for him to speak.

"Alright everyone! In sick formation!" Sokka said as they began walking. I pulled my hood over my head and the boy glanced in my direction.

I shrugged. "It wouldn't really work for me. If Mai saw me then she might have already told the others. I can't risk being seen."

"Alright, well make sure you stay close and try to conceal yourself." He said.

"Will do, captain." I said with a salute and grin. Sokka moved to the front of the crowd along with the others. I was somewhat at an advantage because I wasn't that tall and I could hide among the people in the back. When Katara walked past me, I realize that Aang had disappeared. "Wait, where's Aang?"

"He said that he still needed to search for Bumi." She said with a sigh.

"Well, I guess if there's a chance then he should look for him." I'd never met Bumi before, so if Aang could really bring him back I'd like to see the man.

"Yeah." The girl replied. I offered her a smile that she returned as she moved to the front of the crowd with Sokka.

* * *

The plan worked and we made it out of the city in one peace. "It's amazing that so many people believed that pina-pox was a real disease. We're lucky that soldiers don't have much time to read." I said leaning against Appa's back.

I stared up at the dark sky. Various camp fires made by Omashu citizens put light into the dark scenery. "We all don't have the fascination to read like you do, Sozai." Sokka's voice spoke up as I turned to him with an even expression. His tone was teasing as I rolled my eyes.

"And we all don't still have the pina-pox markings on our faces like a certain someone." Sokka's eyes widened. "Could be permanent."

"Really? I do? Where? Katara you told me it cleared up." I suddenly let out a laugh at the older boy's mini-crisis. He glanced at me with a frown. "Haha, very funny."

"I wonder where Aang is." We both turned to Katara who sat on the ground with her arms crossed over her legs. "It's dark out and he's still not here yet. I'm getting worried."

"I'm sure he's fine. Aang's probably on his way back right now. He and Bumi will slide right on in." As Sokka said this I spotted a familiar figure in the distance with quite a large creature walking next to him.

"Well, you were half right." When the boy walked up he held a sad expression. "I looked everywhere. I couldn't find him." Katara took this moment to hug him and I patted his shoulder before gazing up at the mysterious creature.

He stared back at me before I smiled up at him. "Hi there."

"His name is Flopsie." Sokka added.

I tilted my head. "Flopsie, huh? I'm Sozai." I placed a hand on his head and he closed his eyes.

Another gigantic animal for me to love.

"We have a problem." I heard from behind me. I turned around to see Young. "We just did a head count."

Katara began to look worried. "Oh no, did someone get left behind?"

"No," He paused before pointing towards a toddler hanging off Momo's tail. "We have an extra."

"A baby?" I questioned. "Whose kid is this?"

"I couldn't tell you. He was here when we finished accounting for everyone." My eyes fell to the child as he continued to smile. This didn't look good.

* * *

I stared at the boy as he waddled around the fire. He did his best to keep himself steady and he didn't look to be more than two years old. He rounded the corner and tripped over Sokka's weapon. Falling to a seated position, he stared at it curiously before attempting to pick it up. Sokka pulled it from his hands and frowned.

"No, bad Fire Nation baby!" He scolded. The boy looked at him before breaking out into a loud cry. I frowned as Katara hit him in the arm. "Fine, here."

The toddler smiled and picked up the weapon with a gleeful noise. "Aw he's so cute." I cooed.

"Yeah I know." Katara added, hugging the boy around his shoulders.

"You won't think that when he's older. He'll join the Fire Nation army. He'll be a killer." Young said.

I shook my head. "He doesn't have to be." I stated firmly. "Not everyone in the Fire Nation is like that."

Young paused before speaking. "There aren't many to fit the exception like yourself."

I opened my mouth to speak, but decided not to. _A lot don't even have the choice._

Suddenly the screech of a bird was heard from the distance. It landed on a rock not far from where we were seated. It had the Fire Nation symbol on it and that never meant anything good. Aang jumped over to the rock and took out the scroll from the bird. He opened it and I tilted my head curiously.

"What does it say?"

"It's from the governor. He thinks that we kidnapped his son. He wants to make a trade: his son for King Bumi." Aang looked at us with a nervous expression.

"Well, that settles it then, right?" Young said.

"I don't know, this could all be a trap." Sokka chimed.

I shook my head. "No way, the governor may be the Fire Nation, but he wouldn't sacrifice is child's safety" They all looked at me as I gave an awkward shrug. "I use to go to Mai's house sometimes for these gatherings. Her father is the governor, he let her take up lesson to learn how to fight. He wanted her to be safe at all times, so he cares.""

I wasn't really sure if anyone of this information would be of any help to this situation. "You're familiar with these people." Young stated rather than question.

I slowly nodded. "...Yes, Mai was a friend, I guess..." I'd rather not just blatantly say that I was the princess. Though it would come up later, but this didn't seem like the best time to point that out. "Well, we weren't on bad terms."

"Then it would be best if you went to negotiate and help make the trade run more smoothly." The older man continued. "We don't want anymore complications."

Sokka spoke up before I could say anything else. "I don't know. Would it be safe for you to go out like that? What if word goes back to the Fire Nation."

"I'm sure it already has." It wasn't like I'd really added anything significant to the gang and if I could help I'd do whatever I could. "I'll go."

* * *

The next morning I held the sleeping toddler in my arms with a smile. He was adorable that was for sure. "I hope this goes well." Katara answered.

"How are we sure this isn't a trap?" Sokka said as we walked across the top of a wooden building.

"I'm sure it isn't. The governor is worried about his son enough to make a trade." Aang said.

I decided to say nothing else as I left the child hand from the satchel across my chest. We all turned around when there were steps heard from the distance. My eyes widened when I saw who walked towards us. It was as if I was twelve all over again. Mai, Ty Lee and my sister, Azula made their approach.

"So that really was you, Sozai." Mai said with an even tone. She gave nothing away which was how she had always been. Ty Lee smiled with wide eyes.

"Wow, I haven't seen you in so long. This is really amazing. It's like the universe has pulled us all back together." Her tilted her head to the side. "But in like a really strange way."

I grimaced as I looked at my sisters smug face. "Yep..."

Katara looked at me with a silent knowing voice. _That's your sister?_

I nodded as Azula's came to me. "Well, well, isn't this surprise. Scratch that. It isn't. When Zuko said that you'd ran off on your own, I'd thought he was telling me a terrible joke, but here you are. Being the traitor I'd always thought you were."

A frown slowly made it's way onto my mouth. Since I left with Zuko I'd never actually thought that I would see Azula again, at least not like this. Just looking at her brought about all the terrible things she'd attempted and tried to do.

"Yeah you were right. Blah, blah, blah, insert sarcastic and witty comment here." Azula's lips twitched down as what I assumed to be Bumi's laughter intervened into the conversation.

"Hey everybody." He was lowered in a metal casket like box with only his head sticking out. He was set down behind the trio as Mai spoke up.

"You have my brother." She stated.

"Right here." Aang pointed to me. "We're going to make the trade."

"Wait." Azula said in a commanding voice. _Oh no_ , I mentally groaned. "A thought just occurred to me. Do you mind?"

"Of course not, Princess Azula." Mai answered.

"We're trading a two year old for a king. A powerful earth bending king. It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?" I glared at the girl as she smiled over to me. My gaze turned to Mai with pleading eyes. _Please don't do what I think you're going to do._

"You're right. The deals off." She said. Bumi was raised back into the air and I heard his laughter fade.

"Bumi!" Aang yelled as he ran after the ascending metal box. Azula stepped forward and bent out blue fire. Aang jumped in the air and flew away on his glider. My sister glanced over at me as I guarded the baby.

"Sit tight, sister dear. I'll deal with you in a bit." She ran out of sight and I took this chance to back away from the others.

"We've got to get the baby out of here." Katara said.

"Yeah, way ahead of you" Sokka said. We began to run towards the ladder that we'd used to get up here, but Sokka suddenly fell to the ground.

"Sokka!" I yelled, pulling him to his feet. "We gotta go!"

"Look out." He yelled as he point behind me. I turned around to see Ty Lee running at me.

"No hard feelings." She said, jumping up ready to hit me. I closed my eyes and shielded the baby. When I suddenly heard an "ouff", I looked up to see that Katara had momentarily apprehended the girl.

"Come on!" Sokka said as we both slid down the ladder and ran down the road towards where Appa was waiting. I climbed onto the bison and grabbed a hold of Sokka's hand. I glanced down to the young boy. He still seemed to be alright, but this was definitely no place for a young child to be. He was in danger here and we needed to get him back to his family pronto. Sokka flew us back to where Katara was trying to fight off Mai and Ty Lee. Though from the looks of it, she couldn't bend the water.

"How are you going to fight without your bending?" Mai asked in a mocking tone. Sokka threw his boomarang knocking Mai's weapon out of her hand.

"I seem to manage." He said. Appa dropped down in front of them knocking the girls away with a gust of wind from his tail. Katara quickly climbed onto Appa and we went on our way to find Aang. Katara spotted him gliding down the earth rails with Bumi being followed by Azula. She was shooting fire at them and was ironically hot on their trail. Aang bent out a gust of wind trying to land on Appa's saddle, but it was too much and he ended up going over the bison completely. We watched as the two fell down onto another rail and then they were suddenly out of sight.

Sokka steered the Appa in the direction we'd last saw them. We searched for a little while until we spotted Aang near the ledge of a building. He was by himself.

"Where did Bumi go?" I asked in an unsure tone.

The monk turned around with a solemn expression. "He isn't coming with us."

"Why?" Sokka asked. "Wait, how did he even leave?"

"He was able to earth bend all along and could have left if he wanted to." The boy answered.

"I don't understand, why would Bumi willingly stay here?" Katara asked.

"...He said it wasn't the right time." Everyone went silent as I looked down to the child in my satchel. Strangely enough he was asleep.

"I think we should get him back to his parents don't you think?"

Aang looked at me before nodding. "Yeah, I'll take him once it gets dark.

* * *

I sat down crossed legged next to Flopsie as I patted his side. "I wonder what you eat. I've got these walnuts here, but I doubt that you'd want that." The creature looked at me with wide eyes and stuck out his tongue. I paused for a moment before bring the food up to his mouth as he gobbled it down.

"Well, walnuts it is." When I heard a roar from behind me I looked up at Appa who gazed down at me expectantly. "What, you want some too?" He opened his mouth and I dropped the walnuts in side. Suddenly Momo dropped down onto my head and I passed one up to him.

"Alright is everyone happy now?" I asked. They all ate quietly as I lad back onto the ground. "Good."

When I heard foot steps coming up from the left side I turned towards the sound. "What are you doing?" It was Sokka.

"Becoming one with nature, obviously. You want some nuts?" He only stared. "...Walnuts."

He shrugged and sat down next to me. "Sure." We sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke. "So, that was your sister back there and her friends."

"Yeah, it was quite the reunion. As you can see she doesn't really like me very much." I stated. "Ty Lee and Mai, they usually just did whatever she told them to. Now it's come to this...I really didn't expect to see her again. At least not right now."

I blinked when Sokka's hand brushed up against mine. My eyes glanced over to him. He seemed to have realized what he did, but he didn't move his hand or address that it was still there. So I decided to leave it be. "Don't worry, you've got us and we'll keep you safe."

A smile formed onto my face. "Well, hopefully with Aang helping me learn how to use a staff I'll be able to protect myself."

"True, but we'll still be here for you." He quirked up the right side of his mouth. "By the way, you still haven't told me what you wanted from winning the bet. Have you thought about at all?"

 _Oh believe me, I have._ "Mm, I still haven't come to a real wish yet, but I'll give you an answer soon." I adjusted my glasses and gave him a teasing smile.

Katara walked over and tilted her head. "What are you guys doing?" Her eyes gazed down at our hands touching. We awkwardly looked at each other before slowly pulling them away.

"Nothing really." I said as casually as I could. Time to change the subject. "Nuts?" I held up a hand of them to her. She looked at them for a moment before taking some out of my hand and sitting down with us.


End file.
